The proposed MasterCard Outdoor Pavilion, with the planned location east of the Green Music Center, is being put on pause for the time being by new administrative leadership.
“Soft opening construction has started and is underway on the project, but the MasterCard Outdoor Pavilion will be paused until the new leadership has an understanding as a whole of the project as its planned currently,” said Christopher Dinno, associate vice president for Administration and Finance, Facilities Operations and Planning.
The proposed MasterCard Pavilion is supposed to be a state-of-the-art pavilion made to compliment the Green Music Center by being the center for more contemporary artists with rock, pop and hip-hop being the focus. The pavilion would have fixed seating and an additional lawn. Comparisons of the project are being made to The Greek Theater at University of California, Berkeley and the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View.
The original proposed price for the project was $15 million. The pavilion project has evolved over the years since then and is looking at a new price point of $8.6 million – $10.6 million dollars, as the pavilion has been scaled down. This new price point would all depend if the project finds funding to have the proposed 1000 fixed seats and cross aisle along with miscellaneous items like agency approvals and architectural fees.
The construction portion itself would be approximately $ 6.5 million. The proposed lawn would be able to fit 8700-8800 occupants with a total of around 10,000 occupants all together. The pavilion project would also include ADA compliant tables and chairs. The project would save money by being able to re-use the LED screen from the Green Music Center south lawn as it can be broken down into two pieces.
“We heavily rely on the student group and are very grateful for the student help” said Dinno.
Some students are excited about the possibility of the project.
“I really do hope that the new administration lets this project go through. I’d love to see some of my favorite bands and artists really close to campus and I wouldn’t have to commute to the city to go get my fix.” said Joi Fisher, junior at Sonoma State.
Stan Nosek, the new interim vice president for Administration and Finance is part of the new administration leadership that is overlooking the project.
“As a new person coming in on all the projects that we are working on, I want to stop and say how is this funded? What’s the purpose? How are we marketing? How does it impact all the other things that are going on on-campus? Those of us that are new are saying, ‘Let’s just take a step back and look at everything and make sure it makes sense as much as it did when it was originally planned. That’s the process we’re in now.” said Nosek.
Other projects that are being developed with more rush are the renovation to Stevenson Hall and critical infrastructural needs for the campus.
If the MasterCard Pavilion Project were to move forward, it would be completed in early March. Summer programing would begin in Summer 2017. There is no set date for completion.
“If the project were not to go forward I don’t think it would be an issue since we can still bring a temporary stage and do all the proposed activities. We are currently doing all those shows mostly on the south lawn. We just need to step back and take a look at it very closely” said Dinno.
