VAIL — An updated plan for a “social plaza” at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater is headed into the town of Vail’s approval process. If the plan completes the trip, work could be done next year.
The Vail Town Council on Tuesday voted 5-1, with council member Kerry Donovan dissenting and fellow member Margaret Rogers absent, to send the updated plan to the Vail Planning and Environmental Commission. That’s the first step in the town’s approval process.
The plaza, touted by supporters as a much-needed “lobby” for the amphitheater, was part of a package of improvements approved in 2012 by the Vail Town Council. The first phase of work was done in time for this year’s summer season at the facility. But the plaza plan encountered enough opposition from residents that the town council earlier this year withdrew its previous approval.
Since then, the Vail Valley Foundation, which runs the amphitheater, worked on a revised plan for the plaza, while town officials have started work on a new comprehensive plan for all of Ford Park that will guide future use and development there.
During Tuesday’s hearing, foundation board chairman Harry Frampton told the council re-starting the approval process is important beyond just the amphitheater improvements. If the plaza could move through the town process during the rest of the summer into early fall, “We can start in October, then finish by June 15,” Frampton said. That would allow the foundation to put its entire focus on the 2015 World Alpine Skiing Championships, he said.
Frampton called the amphitheater “critical” to Vail’s summer economy.
