Sandstone Amphitheater, currently known as Azura Amphitheater, is an open-air

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

located in Bonner Springs, Kansas, United States. It is owned by the unified government of Wyandotte County and

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

, shares its grounds with the Kansas City Renaissance Festival and

National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame The National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame is a museum and educational facility in Bonner Springs, Kansas, United States. The group holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code (issued in 1960). It is located ea ...

and is located adjacent to the Wyandotte County Park.About Azura Amphitheater
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History

Designed by Bird Engineering, it originally opened in 1984, as the Sandstone Center for the Performing Arts. It was renamed 'Verizon Wireless Amphitheater' in June 2002, after

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

bought the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

for seven years from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

-based

Clear Channel Entertainment Live Nation is an American events promoter and venue operator based in Beverly Hills, California. Founded in 1996 by Robert F. X. Sillerman as SFX Entertainment, the company's business was built around consolidating concert promoters into a n ...

for an undisclosed amount.

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

spun off its live events management division in 2005 to form

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

-based

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational Entertainment industry, entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Live Nation (events promoter), Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It ...

, which continued to manage the venue through the 2007 concert season. Locals simply refer to the venue as "Sandstone". In September 2007, Live Nation announced that it would let its managing contract expire on December 31, 2007. In January 2008, the Unified Government Commission ratified a pact with local promoter Chris Fritz's New West Presentations, Inc., to operate the venue through the end of 2009, with a two-year option to extend the contract. Under the new deal with New West, the name would revert to Sandstone. Through 2007, the venue featured 6,700 reserved seats and general admission

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

seating. Beginning in 2008, plans are underway to remove the majority of the reserved seats closest to the stage in order to make that area a

general admission In live entertainment there are several possible schemes for the seating assignment of spectators, including completely unassigned seating. There are several schemes most commonly used, though there are no firm rules, and alternate or modified sc ...

section. The change in the seating configuration is designed to let more fans get closer to the performers and eliminate costs of the extra security normally required. Additional structural changes include an upgraded VIP club and new sound and video systems. Through the years the stage has fought several limitations. For instance, a 37-foot roof is well below the norm, which often proves challenging to book shows.

Name

It has undergone numerous name changes since it opened: * Sandstone Center for the Performing Arts (original name from 1983 to 1993) * Sandstone Amphitheater (1993-2002, 2008) * Verizon Wireless Amphitheater * Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone * Cricket Wireless Amphitheater * Providence Medical Center Amphitheater (2016-2021) * Azura Amphitheater (2021-Present)

References

{{Authority control Amphitheaters in the United States Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Kansas Music venues in Kansas Theatres in Kansas Tourist attractions in Wyandotte County, Kansas 1984 establishments in Kansas

History

Name

See also

References