| Germain Amphitheater | |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1994 |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Demolished | 2007 (in ruins) |
The Germain Amphitheater—renamed from the previous Polaris Amphitheater following a sponsorship deal with the Germain Motor Company in 2003—was a 20,000-seat outdoor entertainment venue located in Columbus, Ohio.
Billy Ray Cyrus played the first concert at Germain Amphitheater in 1994. Since that time, Germain Amphitheater has hosted some of the largest names in music including Lilith Fair, Farmaid and Ozzfest. Toby Keith played the final show on September 16, 2007.
On June 17, 1997 at Ozzfest, concert goers began throwing bottles at the stage, others smashed box office windows, started brush fires and overturned cars outside the amphitheater, after the announcement was made that Ozzy Osbourne would not perform.
There are 6,700 seats in an open-air pavilion—much of it under cover—and room for another 13,300 people on general admission lawn seating. The majority of the concert season is announced in mid-April and typically begins in mid-May, continues through early October and features 20 to 30 concerts per year.
Germain Amphitheater was currently owned and operated by Live Nation.
After the 2007 season, the amphitheater closed. According to The Columbus Dispatch,[1] the rising real estate values is the main reason behind the sale and also speculates competition from other similarly sized venues such as Nationwide Arena, Value City Arena, Columbus Crew Stadium, and Lifestyle Communities Pavilion in the area may have contributed to the decline the in number of shows hosted by Germain Amphitheater in recent years. In 2007, only nine shows were scheduled, the fewest shows at Germain since it opened. Following the 2007 concert season the facility and property were auctioned for sale but received no bids from buyers.
Seats have been uprooted[2], and it has been extensively looted and vandalized.