A south-suburban development firm says it has reached tentativeagreement with Tinley Park to build a 27,000-seat outdooramphitheater.
The village board is scheduled to consider the plan Aug. 9.
The 150-acre theater complex, to be developed by GierczykDevelopment of Harvey, would be built on Harlem Avenue south ofInterstate 80 and run east to Ridgeland and south to Flossmoor Road.
The second proposed outdoor theater in the south suburbs, itwould compete with a proposed 17,500-seat theater planned for nearbyCountry Club Hills by Plum Valley Management. Both theaters wouldfeature pop music acts.
Gierczyk doesn't own the proposed site, said spokeswoman LindaPollock. Plum Valley Management also is negotiating to buy itsproposed theater site, said Continental Bank spokesman, BillMarshall.
Plum Valley Management could not be reached, and Country ClubHills Mayor Dwight Welch refused to comment.
Tinley Park officials said they have considered competitionbetween the theaters, and Mayor Edward Zabrocki said Tinley Park'sprograms would be good enough to draw sufficient crowds to keep itsamphitheater open.
"Somewhere along the line, a decision (whether to build boththeaters) has got to be made by somebody," Zabrocki said. "We'llcross that road when we come to it."
The Tinley Park theater would "allow us to get utilities, waterand sewer, south of I-80, which would encourage other development inthe area and broaden our tax base," said Dennis Caulson, villagemanager.
It would have about 10,000 parking spaces, and 11,000 of the27,000 seats would be under a roof. The stage would be large enoughfor acts that do not fit easily on a a stage such as Poplar Creek's,Pollack said. However, he would not cite an exact size.
"It would accommodate the Michael Jacksons and the Madonnas,that bring quite an entourage with them," Caulson said.
By comparison, Poplar Creek, in north-suburban Hoffman Estates,seats some 18,000, with 6,500 under a roof.
Caulson said there are enough nearby roads to handle traffic forthe theater, explaining:
"It would be nearly adjacent to I-80, and the Route 43interchange is already a four-lane highway. You're only three milesfrom I-57.
"It's nothing that we can't overcome given the network alreadyin place."
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