A much anticipated downtown project is getting another financial boost courtesy of Picnic With The Pops. On Tuesday event president Kip Cornett announced the group is donating more than a million dollars for the construction of a new amphitheater as part of Town Branch Park.
Town Branch Park will be on a 10-acre site adjacent to the recently approved expansion of Rupp Arena and Lexington Center. When completed in 2022, the signature park will contain green space, water features, a dog park and a “Great Lawn” area that will be anchored by the aforementioned performance amphitheater with space to host up to 5,000 patrons.
Town Branch Fund Advisory Board Chair Ann Bakhaus tells WUKY she envisions something happening there just about every day of the year.
Picnic with the Pops began almost 40 years ago, guided by then-Mayor Jim Amato, Tom Minter, former Lexington Center Director and President of the Picnic with the Pops Commission for many years, and the Lexington Philharmonic. Since then it has sold out almost every year. Every August patrons enjoy music, the great outdoors, and the hard-fought table decorating competition.
