Group confirms Dayton next city to get music pavilion

Dayton will be home to the eighth Levitt pavilion.

If there was any lingering doubt, the Levitt Foundation quashed it this week with the official announcement that the Gem City has been chosen to join its network of permanent Levitt outdoor music venues.

A nonprofit that has been raising money to help construct the state-of-the-art amphitheater has secured $4.3 million of its $5 million goal, and is expected to reach the full amount early next year.

The music venue, planned for Dave Hall Plaza in downtown, would host 50 free concerts each year, which are projected to attract more than 100,000 people to the center city.

The pavilion is a centerpiece of an ambitious strategy to redevelop that section of the central business district.

“The Levitt Pavilion here in Dayton will be a living room for our city — a safe, family-friendly environment in our urban core where everyone will be invited to enjoy the free concerts and celebrate the diversity of our community,” said April Mescher, the project’s director who serves as a liaison between the city, the Levitt Foundation and Friends of Levitt Pavilion Dayton, which is raising money for the project. “This renewed green space will also be ideal for a picnic, stroll or relaxing outdoors right in our city center.”

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