Imagine that perfect Summer evening when you are sitting with family and friends, blanket spread out across the grassy lawn. As the dusk settles in you begin to recognize the faces of people from the community strategically positioning their lawn chairs in anticipation of the evening's event. Pretty soon the lights come up and as the band shell begins to glow, the light spills out like a halo, mingling with the evening sky. Finally...the entertainers start making their way onto the stage. Sound like a image plucked from a Norman Rockwell painting? It could be an actual event taking place in your town this very day.
Scenes such as these were the goal of Mortimer Levitt...a man with a simple desire to make it possible for people to share his passion for "music under the stars". This desire expressed itself through his personal vision backed by a firm commitment when on his 90th birthday Mortimer Levitt sold the business he had owned for 60 years to provide the funding for the endowment of 20 Levitt Pavilions. Mortimer Levitt passed away on July 12, 2005 at the age of 98 but not before establishing the Mortimer Levitt Foundation and leaving it in the capable hands of his wife Annemarie Levitt and daughter Elizabeth Levitt Hirsch.
Working together in conjunction with the dedicated and enthusiastic Levitt team, the desire for free music, available to all in the community, "under the stars" is unfolding with the opening of Levitt Pavilions in Pasadena, California's Memorial Park, Los Angeles' MacAurthur Park, Westport, Connecticut on the banks of the Saugatuck River. These communities currently enjoy a free concert series of 50 shows each Summer that are musically diverse, family friendly and staged in an open lawn, public park setting. Two more Levitt Pavilions are opening in September 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee and Arlington, Texas. Additional pavilions for different communities are currently in the planning stages...the attached links at the end of this story will direct the reader to a website describing how to have your community considered for a Levitt Pavilion.
Much has been written in recent years on the subject of "smart" community planning. The new paradigm has recognized that the postwar suburban growth patterns, along with the subdivision zoning that supported it had led to urban sprawl in many cities. This unfortunate trend has left it's footprint not only on the environment through the consumption of open lands, but has also created an automobile oriented culture that tugs relentlessly at the frayed fabric of community as well. Today no discussion about green city planning and community empowerment could exclude the topics of...pedestrian orientation, shared public spaces, diverse concentrations of mixed uses in the urban core, green beltways linking plazas, squares and parks and "people places" where community members from all economic and cultural backgrounds may mingle and share the common amenities offered locally.
Thankfully Mortimer Levitt's passion for "music under the stars" has led to the implementation of these green goals in the communities where they have located. The first Levitt Pavilions Have involved restoring old dilapidated band shells left over from the public works programs initiated by FDR during the "Great Depression". By re-cycling these aging structures, many of which had become "hang-outs" for drug dealers and gang members, the overall public usability and vitality of the parks in which they have been built has been restored. As these parks are generally located in the heart of the city, there is typically immediate access to public transportation, as well as to pedestrian activity from the densely populated areas surrounding the parks.
Key to the success of Levitt Pavilions however has been their requirement that a public/private partnership be formed in order to insure that the parks where the pavilions are located will continue to flourish long after the initial five year funding provided by the Levitt endowment has expired. The Levitt model is truly one that involves commitment, not only from local government, but from the private community in the form of local volunteers. Gladly it is the ultimate win/win situation, as during the 50 nights each Summer that concerts are hosted in the City Park, the increased activity of people who explore the surrounding area on foot before and after the show has provided a big boost to the local businesses.
