Foster Park Bowl, Open-air amphitheatre in Ventura, United States.
Foster Park Bowl is a concrete outdoor amphitheatre between Ojai and Ventura, California, with a seating capacity of 1,000. It was built in 1928 within the 205-acre Foster Park, established in 1908.
The amphitheatre was built in 1928 as part of a larger effort to create public recreational spaces throughout the county. It became a central venue for community gatherings and entertainment in the decades that followed.
The bowl was used frequently into the 1960s, but in the 1970s it saw less use as people started to shift to Libbey Bowl in Ojai. It was occasionally used after the 1970s but fell into disrepair. In 1988 the Ventura County Repertory Theatre attempted to renovate it.
The bowl lies in Foster Park, a 205-acre county park between Ojai and Ventura, so access is by road through the park. The concrete structure seats 1,000 and has no regular programme; a 2007 assessment found the stage needed $30,000 of reinforcement, so check its condition before planning a visit.
A 2007 assessment found that reinforcing the stage would cost $30,000, and as of 2009 the student group Teenagers for The Preservation of Historical Landmarks, based at Foothill Technology High School, was still seeking permits and release forms for an initial cleanup and planning fundraisers for the work.
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