Deciding now is not the time to pursue construction of a new 350-seat amphitheater, the Fort Williams Park Committee in Cape Elizabeth has voted to put the plans on hold for the foreseeable future.

The project, with a budget of more than $400,000, was envisioned as an outdoor, multipurpose performance space, which could be used for concerts, public gatherings, community events and more.

The committee based its decision not to pursue the amphitheater plans for now, in part on comments it received during a public forum held on the proposal in mid-August.

In addition, during its Sept. 15 meeting, committee members agreed the park is already getting a lot of use, particularly with the opening of the new Children’s Garden, which was a project of the Fort Williams Park Foundation.

Although the amphitheater project was not part of the 2011 Master Plan for Fort Williams Park, the committee was charged with reviewing and deciding the best use for the space formerly occupied by a set of concrete bleachers that overlooked an open ball field near the tennis courts.

Earlier this summer, Mark Russell, chairman of the Fort Williams Park Committee, told the Current that his group has given reconstruction of the former bleacher site the highest priority in terms of projects designed to improve the park.

Prior to the August public forum on the amphitheater project, Bob Malley, director of public works in Cape, said that the Fort Williams Park Committee

felt it “could complement the Children’s Garden and be used as a venue for community and cultural events.”

The committee first presented its plan for a new amphitheater to the Town Council a little more than a year ago. At that time, the council asked the group to spend more time studying and reviewing the project details and specifically requested that the committee provide an opportunity for the public to comment.

The goal for the amphitheater project was not only to provide space for a large audience, but also to be a source of potential revenue that could be used for park upkeep.

Creating a usable public space from the former crumbling concrete bleachers at the parade grounds has been a goal for more than a decade. During the past three years, the Fort Williams Park Committee has held several public meetings and workshops with the hope of creating a redevelopment plan that would meet with council approval.

– Kate Irish Collins

Most of these concrete bleachers at Fort Williams Park have been demolished to make way for an amphitheater.

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