The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in St. Johns County will reopen Friday after a yearlong shutdown for renovations. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today
Published on July 30, 2025 at 1:22 pm
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It’s been more than a year since a much-loved St. Johns County concert venue shut down for renovations. Now, the new and improved Ponte Vedra Concert Hall will formally reopen Friday.
The church-turned-venue on State Road A1A first opened its doors in 2011 and hosted more than 1,000 shows before it closed last year.
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The concert hall will reopen with a performance by singer-songwriter Dan Tyminski, a bigger stage, room to accommodate 25% more people and even its own built-in Kookaburra coffee shop.
Renovating the interior and exterior of the concert hall cost around $12.9 million, said Jerry Wilson, president of the Friends of the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. More than $5 million came from a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant from the Small Business Administration.
Speaking at an event Wednesday, Wilson said the venue’s success is owed, in part, to the public-private partnership between SJC Cultural Events Inc — the nonprofit organization that operates the concert hall and the St. Augustine Amphitheater — and the county government.
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“This, today, is the manifestation of a local St. Johns County success story,” Wilson said.
Wilson was joined by local elected officials and other members of the St. Johns County community. Among them was St. Johns County Commission Chair Krista Joseph.
She touted the outsized effect the state of the arts venue will have on local tourism.
“Everything’s great about this, because it’s actually bringing revenue to our county and tourism to our county,” Joseph said, “and those are two things I really love most about this project.”
In addition to boasting a bigger stage at the venue, the group behind the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall is also looking to do more in the community.
While the venue was shuttered, SJC Cultural Events Inc forged a relationship with Florida State University’s College of Music. During a five-week pilot program, educators from FSU conducted music lessons with children in the West Augustine community.
Wilson says that was just the first step toward playing a larger role in local music education. The team behind the concert hall and FSU will conduct another class with teenagers later this year, and Wilson said the goal is for those music lessons to continue beyond this year.
The first show Friday kicks off a stacked lineup of shows running through the end of the year including The Mountain Goats, Lecrae and Sister Hazel. In addition to concerts, the venue will host several stand-up comedians in the coming months, including Leslie Jones and Noel Miller.
