Unused and neglected, the Las Positas College amphitheater has become nothing more than layer upon layer of patchy grass with some concrete in between. A place that should have seen big productions and bigger audiences barely sees more than a handful of students just killing time between classes.
All that is about to change. In hopes of making the area more user friendly, the scattered expanse of weeds that could once be called grass will be replaced with pigmented concrete. By lowering the need for constant maintenance, the theater and music departments hope to make more use of the prime real estate.
“Las Positas College chose a couple of projects around the campus and the one that seemed to get the most support was the amphitheater,” said Director of Facilities Douglas Horner.
The project is being paid for by an allocation the school called small project funds. The potential of what the amphitheater could become, if done right, placed it at the top of the list. The planning and processing has taken about a year, and now production is finally ready to take place any day now.
Fences will be going up around the space and construction equipment will make its way to the parking lot behind the area. After a long term of neglect, the grass will finally be torn up to make way for the new concrete design.
Although the terraced grass design was what was wanted in the beginning, as time went on the upkeep proved to be too much. Even before the drought, the grassy steps took up too much time and too many resources. What was once a beautiful outdoor space has become a bit of an eyesore.
“With all the grounds that need upkeep, sometimes the amphitheater didn’t receive the amount of attention that it needed to look its very best,” Horner said.
After the turf is pulled up and the concrete – which will be colored with earth tone pigments – is dried, the entire area will have a new look with less mess. Audiences will no longer have to deal with muddy seats and grass stains.
As the amphitheater is already fitted with all the bells and whistles, everything should be ready to go by the end of the project. The power is there, all it needs is an audience. If everything goes according to plan, the job should be finished by January next year.
“It’s a beautiful space, we’re just making it so it can be better utilized,” Horner said.
