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Pringle-topped Coney Island Amphitheater on the Boardwalk set to open this July

Pringle-topped Coney Island Amphitheater on the Boardwalk set to open this July

The Coney Island boardwalk, arguably the best place in New York for people-watching and watching people consume copious amounts of fried seafood, is about to get a new spiffy venue: the long-anticipated, 5,000-seat Coney Island Amphitheater on the Boardwalk is set to open this July.

Although plans have been in the works to open the venue for a few years, this is the first official announcement of a set opening date. The Amphitheater will host sports, concerts, and film screenings under its potato-chip-like awning.

Plans call to adaptively integrate the Childs Building, long vacant, into the building’s program. With the Landmarks Preservation Commission‘s blessing in 2013, the 1923 building is set to be fitted with 50-foot-tall doors that will let breezes flow inside during the summer, but that can also be shuttered during the winter months for year-round use (the building used to host Lola Star’s roller disco before that event moved to the Lefrak Center at Prospect Park).

Anticipating the popularity of summertime events, overflow crows from the amphitheater and the Childs Building can be accommodated in a 40,000-square-foot outdoor space, next to the boardwalk. The developer is New York–based iStar Financial.

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New York City Economic Development Corporation worked out a deal between iStar and the nonprofit Coney Island USA in 2014. The city invested $60 million in the project, which facilitated the property acquisition, reuse of the Childs Building, the building of the Amphitheater and outdoor space.

“The opening of the new amphitheater further enriches Coney Island’s long history of offering the City of New York, and especially the borough of Brooklyn, unique entertainment in a seaside environment,” said Dick Zigun, founder of the sideshow and CEO of Coney Island USA.  “We are looking forward to making the traditional Coney Island events, such as the Mermaid Parade, even bigger and better with the addition of Brooklyn’s newest destination attraction.”

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