Ephraim City to debut Canyon View Park amphitheater with ribbon-cutting, concert
By Suzanne Dean
Publisher
8-11-2016
EPHRAIM—Ephraim City will debut the big new amphitheater in Canyon View Park with a ribbon cutting and family concert on Saturday from 7-9 p.m., the last weekend before school starts.
Mayor Richard Squire, assisted by the Miss Ephraim royalty, will kick off the night by cutting a ribbon in front of the 40,000-square-foot grassy bowl, which was completed in May. Canyon View Park is located on 100 East at about 700 South.
Following the ribbon cutting, the Phat Old Professors, a classic rock group made up of Snow College faculty, and the Snow College Commercial Music Ensemble (CME), an eight-member group of vocal, brass and percussion students, will perform.
The program will be for all ages, and families are welcome to bring blankets and lawn chairs, says Ted Hinckley, associate professor of music at Snow who put the program together.
Since the amphitheater was completed, city leaders have talked about staging summer concerts there, drawing primarily on Snow College.
“We wanted to do something before the summer was up,” Hinckley said. “Having this venue offers some real potential for Sanpete County, not just Ephraim, for a long time to come.”
Although the amphitheater doesn’t have a sound system yet, the CME has amplification equipment that should enable everyone in the audience to hear the music.
All CME members are in the Snow bachelor of commercial music program. “We even brought back a couple of kids who just graduated” for the concert, Hinckley said.
The amphitheater is about 170 feet from the stage to the top of the hill and about 240 feet wide at its widest point. The city engineer said the bowl will seat at least 500.
The amphitheater project included contouring the hill, installing a sprinkler system and installing sod. Much of the work was done by city crews. C.O. Building Systems donated the stage and the roof over the stage.
Catalyst Lending Group of Orem is sponsoring the kickoff concert.
