Forks Residents Weigh in On Amphitheater

When they build it, will they come?

It's a question Forks Township residents will over the next year or so now that township supervisors have to be built right next to the municipal building on Sullivan Trail.

The Board of Supervisors recently voted 3-2 in favor of hiring New York-based Fourmen Construction Inc. to construct the $251,794 amphitheater, which was approved despite objections from some residents and two supervisors.

Some residents interviewed this week at the Forks Township Community Park had mixed feelings about the

For recent Kansas City transplant Suzie Cummins, who has lived in the township less than a year, an amphitheater sounds like a great addition to the park.

"I like the park. It's really beautiful," she said. "My husband and I come here all the time to walk and bicycle. We like living close to the park."

Cummins said she supported a park amphitheater in Kansas City.

"I would love it," she said. "It would be awesome. We had season tickets to our amphitheater and would do the same here."

Laura Viola, who sat on a bench near the playground as her children rode bikes on this warm, breezy afternoon, thinks otherwise.

"I think there are better things the township could use the money for," Viola said.

Viola, a six-year township resident, recalls filling out a community survey five years ago, but doesn't believe that anything materialized from it.

"I think residents would be more interested in a community pool," she said. "We could also use a dog park since you can't take them on the bike path here. I'd rather have those things."

Last month, supervisors approved a proposal from township Parks and Recreation Director Rachel Sulzbach to revise the department’s . The new plan will run from 2012-2017. Plans for a at the proposed 52-acre park at Newlins and Richmond roads are included in the park design concepts. Some residents, though, don't even believe one amphitheater is necessary.

"Honestly, I could care less," said Eileen Dean, a 10-year resident who was jogging along the bike path. "If people want it and would use it, then fine. I might, depending on what they offer."

Voting in favor of the amphitheater proposal were Supervisors Lilly Gioia, David Billings and C. David Howell. Casting "no" votes were Supervisors Erik Chuss and Robert Egolf.

Howell recently stated that "our amphitheater is not that much different that those amphitheaters being built in the Lehigh Valley."
That doesn't matter to some residents.

Resident Dennis Wolford, who was also jogging, said he didn't know if he would use the amphitheater. The same goes for Kevin Paolino, a six-year resident who was watching football practice early Wednesday evening.

"I occasionally use the park for my kid's practices," he said. "But I don't know if I'd get much use out of an amphitheater."

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