The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, pictured this year. When it reopens next year, it will look different on the outside and will accommodate more people. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today
Published on April 26, 2024 at 2:40 pm
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The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall has closed its doors only twice in the past 15 years. The first was in 2020 for COVID and the second is now.
The Northeast Florida concert hall will shut down for renovation for nearly a year.
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When it reopens next year, the amphitheater will not only look different on the outside, but its stage will be larger and its new balcony seating will be able to accommodate 25% more people. Funding for the renovations comes to the tune of $10.7 million from St. Johns County.
The concert hall began its life as a Baptist church, but when the congregation moved to new digs in 2009, St. Johns County, the building’s owner, converted it into a top-notch concert venue. The venue could previously fit as many as 900 people for nearly 500 shows ranging all over the musical spectrum — from Ziggy Marley and Neutral Milk Hotel to The Pat Metheny Trio and The Dixie Dregs.
Since it opened in 2011, the venue has hosted more than 1,000 shows, and SJC Cultural Events Inc., the nonprofit that runs the concert hall and the St. Augustine Amphitheater, says they’re just getting started.
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When St. Johns County passed the operation of the concert hall and the amphitheater to SJC Cultural Events last year, the decision was lauded as the county’s first public-private partnership to date.
Members of the St. Johns County Commission praised the concert hall again Friday as an opportunity to keep locals entertained and bring in visitors who will patronize local businesses and stay in St. Johns County hotels.
And it’s not just touring acts, but local groups who will benefit. County Commissioner Krista Joseph said she hopes the expanded theater will be able to accommodate more school groups and keep them from having to travel a ways away.
“[T]his stage is going to be huge. There’s going to be a lot more seats and they can come here; they don’t have to drive out of Ponte Vedra Beach,” Joseph said.
St. Augustine Beach Mayor Dylan Rumrell gave an excited prediction for the future of the concert hall.
“This will be — and mark my words — this will be the best indoor venue in North Florida,” he said.
With more space to play, Chief Programming Officer Cari Baker said she hopes they’ll be able to bring in newer, younger and up-and-coming artists.
“That’s our goal,” she told Jacksonville Today. “To expand.”
In addition to celebrating the start of renovations, the Friends of the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall also donated $4,000 to the North Florida School of Special Education in Jacksonville to fund music lessons and materials at the school.
Jerry Wilson, president of the Friends of the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, said the donation was to honor longtime Ponte Vedra Concert Hall collaborator Tib Miller, whose Flying Saucer Productions booked countless shows at the concert hall as well as around Northeast Florida. Miller died in 2022, but his son Gram Van Cleve Miller attends the school.
Miller’s daughter Pepper now works for SJC Cultural Events.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correctly identify the mayor of St. Augustine Beach.
