By Skyler Perry
NKY Magazine
With the recent addition of PromoWest Pavilion at OVATION, Cincinnatians and Northern Kentuckians can expect more big concerts to stop by the region. In addition to concerts, the venue, which is the third indoor/outdoor concert venue in America, will also be available for special events.
After eight months of construction, the Pavilion at OVATION was completed in January. It is located in Newport, just blocks away from Newport on the Levee and the Taylor Southgate Bridge. The dynamic venue can be adjusted to accommodate lower capacity events of about 1,500 people to higher capacity outdoor events maxing out at 7,000 people.
The Pavilion at OvVATION (Photo by Chris Birkmeyer/Twin Spire Photography via NKY Magazine)
As the CEO of PromoWest Productions, Scott Stienecker spearheaded efforts to build the Pavilion at OVATION. This is the company’s first in Kentucky. It also manages four in Columbus, Ohio, and one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It took several years of planning and negotiating for the Pavilion to end up where it is now. Originally, Stienecker says he was interested in building it on the banks of the Ohio on the Cincinnati side before plans changed and the project was moved across the river. The Andrew J. Brady ICON Music Center, which is managed by MEMI, was built in Ohio instead.
Even with increased competition, Stienecker anticipates the venue’s impact on surrounding areas will be significant. The Pavilion at OVATION will host approximately 100 concerts and 50 events per year.
“It’s going to spur the entire city.” Stienecker says. “The energy will be sparked. You’re going to get a lot more tours hitting the cities than you had in the past. It’s going to be exciting.”
Corporex, whose headquarters is based in NKY, is the master developer for OVATION project, a 25-acre mixed-use development, comprised of more than 1,000 residential units, restaurants, retail, hotels and offices — and the Pavilion.
Corporex in partnership with AEG Presents/PromoWest announced on May 9, 2019, the new $40 million, 38,000 square foot, concert venue which was the catalyst to kick off Phase I of OVATION.
The PromoWest Pavilion plaza will be linked to the future phases of the OVATION development via a pedestrian walkway that will be linked to the restaurants, night life and other entertainment spots that will make up the main pedestrian streets dubbed Broadway and Main Streets within the mixed-use Ovation development.
The Pavilion at OVATION’s fall schedule already shows that big name acts are being drawn here. On Aug. 29, Kesha is slated to be the first act to ever play the venue with special guest Betty Who. Lady A is set to play Sept. 2. And The Struts will perform Oct. 6.
Fans are showing enthusiasm for the venue through ticket sales, which Stienecker says have been positive and exciting.
“I think people are definitely biting at the bit to get out and see shows.” Stienecker says.
Two other indoor/outdoor PromoWest venues have been community staples for years — one for 11 years and one for 21 years. With this in mind, Stienecker’s hopes for the future of the Pavilion at OVATION are simple.
“We hope that [for] the next 20 years, this place will jam.”
This story first appeared in NKY Magazine and is used by permission. The NKyTribune contributed to the updated story.
