St. Augustine Amphitheatre Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
St. Augustine Amphitheatre
Construction
View of stage from section 302 (c.2019)
Address	1340C A1A South St. Augustine, FL 32080-5422
Location	Anastasia State Park
Owner	St. Johns County Parks & Recreation
Operator	St. Johns County Cultural Events Division
Capacity	4,092
Opened	June 27, 1965
Rebuilt	2001-07
Construction cost	$200,000 ($1.89 million in 2022 dollars )

The St. Augustine Amphitheatre (shortened as The Amp) is an outdoor amphitheater located on the A1A in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. The venue seats over 4,000 persons, and is managed by the St. Johns County Parks & Recreation department.

History
Noted performers
Photos
Images for kids
See also

History

The amphitheatre was built in 1965 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, originally with 2,000 seats. land was originally part of Anastasia State Park. The amphitheatre itself was constructed in one of the old coquina quarries used to supply building materials for St. Augustine and the Castillo de San Marcos.

The Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paul Green was commissioned to write a play to be performed at the amphitheatre. The result was Cross and Sword: A Symphonic Drama of the Spanish Settlement of Florida, a musical reenactment of the first years of St. Augustine's existence. Cross and Sword was designated the official state play in 1973 by the Florida Legislature. The play ran until 1996, when budget constraints ended its more than 30-year run.

The amphitheatre was used infrequently during the following years, though it did host a free summer Shakespeare Festival from 1997 to 2003. In 2002, St. Johns County acquired the property and the following year began an $8.7 million renovation. The upgraded facility reopened in August 2007, which includes a fiberglass tensile canopy over the main stage. It now has 4,092 seats. In 2019, the theater branded itself as "The Amp". Also in 2019, the Amp is ranked #2 amphitheatre in the United States and #3 worldwide according to leading concert-industry publication Pollstar Magazine's 2019 Mid-Year report.