Community members gathered at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center to celebrate the grand reopening of the Acorn Amphitheater with a movie night under the stars on Saturday evening.
First opened in 2019, the Acorn Amphitheater, which is located near the picnic area, went through a two-year renovation process to make more use out of the space that was initially too small to hold other outdoor activities besides movie nights, said Herb Broutt, cochair of the Acorn Amphitheater committee and member of Placerita Canyon Nature Center Associates. Sue Murachanian was the second cochair.
With the assistance of grants applied by the associates, and the rebuilding done by Los Angeles County, the outdoor stage was enlarged for performances, seating and tables were added to welcome a bigger audience, and a whole new wheelchair ramp was also added.
The amphitheater has become a staple for the park, because “people get to come, they get to hear music, and it’s just nice to be able to do things outside,” Broutt said, which is why they were excited for the celebration.
Just last month, the Acorn Amphitheater saw dozens of local residents and a few out of towners spend an afternoon under the blue skies surrounded by large trees for a free, open-to-all drum circle as part of the Community Nature Series, which is designed to connect people to the outdoors. In the future, they hope to host more performances from local schools and organizations, Broutt said.
In addition to guests enjoying a picnic during the ribbon cutting ceremony, those present also watched “The Call of the Wild,” a family adventure film directed by Chris Sanders. Concessions and snacks were also available for sale.
Kim Bosell, L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation regional operations manager, was in attendance to award the Placerita Canyon Nature Center Associates with a certificate from county Supervisor Kathryn Barger recognizing the group for their dedication to care for the park.
“I have to tell you how much, (I) as a county person, appreciate all the effort and time that all you guys put into the work that you do here,” Bosell said to the audience. “We couldn’t do half of the things without you all.”
