Gerry shifts focus to planning permanent facility

LIBERTY - The Gerry Foundation announced last week that a concert series will not be held this summer at the site of the original Woodstock Festival in the Town of Bethel, as the foundation shifts its emphasis toward planning and construction of a permanent performing arts complex.

"After much deliberation, we have decided not to have a series of formal events on the site this summer," said Gerry Foundation Executive Director Jonathan Drapkin. "Turning this important symbol of American culture into a permanent place to enjoy and recognize the performing arts has included a number of steps. The first was purchasing the site. Then came the staging of concerts to test the logistics and demonstrate that we could do it successfully. Now we are taking another major step forward, by implementing our plans to establish a world class performing arts center," Drapkin said.

"The most efficient use of our time and resources should be concentrated on long-term development. The staging of concert activities is enormously time consuming and impacts our internal capacity to execute our long-term vision," he said.

Liberty resident Alan Gerry, the cable television pioneer and founder of Cablevision Industries Corp., purchased the 37.4-acre location of the original 1969 Woodstock Festival in 1996.

The Gerry Foundation and GF Entertainment have staged several Day in the Garden concerts during the last two summers, establishing that Max Yasgur's old cornfield is viable for day-long performances attended by as many as 30,000 concert-goers.