Luxury Boxes OKd for Amphitheater

The Pacific Amphitheatre’s operators received approval Thursday from their landlord, the Orange County Fair, to install several luxury boxes at the outdoor concert bowl.

The fair’s board of directors approved the proposal by a vote of 8 to 0, fair spokeswoman Jill Ann Lloyd said. Amphitheater officials have said they are considering installing the boxes but have not yet made a final decision on whether to go ahead with the project. Fair directors’ approval was needed as a preliminary step under the terms of a long-term lease between the fair and the Nederlander Organization, which runs the amphitheater.

The plan submitted by amphitheater officials calls for eight open-air boxes, each with eight seats, to be located at the back of the 18,700-capacity venue’s first tier of seats, Lloyd said. She said the proposal included an estimated construction cost of $120,000, and a projected single-season rental price of $20,000 for each box. The Pacific Amphitheatre’s general manager, Susan Rosenbluth, said this week that the rental figure could be subject to change, depending on construction costs.