NEW YORK (AP) — Elliot Tiber, an artist and designer best known as the businessman who helped enable the staging of the landmark 1969 Woodstock music festival, has died. He was 81.

Tiber died Wednesday in a hospice in Boca Raton, Florida, after suffering a stroke, according to his art agent, Elisa Ball.

He was head of the chamber in commerce in Bethel, New York, around the time Woodstock organizers were seeking a location for their planned concert.

After efforts in Woodstock and nearby Wallkill failed, with local residents fearing the prospect of thousands of hippies in their small communities, Tiber secured a permit for Bethel, and the three-day show was held on the farm of Max Yasgur.