Sandstone by any other name: Now the concert venue is the Azura Amphitheater
Although many people insist on calling it the Sandstone, the popular outdoor concert venue in Bonner Springs actually has gone by several different names over the past two decades.
And here we go again.
Providence Medical Center Amphitheater, as it has been called since 2016, will be known as Azura Amphitheater starting with the 2021 season. Azura Credit Union — with locations in Topeka, Lenexa and Fort Riley — is the new naming rights sponsor.
The 18,000-seat amphitheater, which opened in 1984 as the Sandstone, also has previously been known as Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone Amphitheater and Cricket Wireless Amphitheater. It underwent $2 million in renovations five years ago when Providence Medical Center took over the naming rights.
New West Presentations will continue as the amphitheater’s managing organization. The 2021 season is scheduled to open with Styx and Collective Soul on June 25. The pandemic wiped out last year’s entire slate of concerts.
“Azura Amphitheater is very appropriate for us since Azura means ‘blue sky,’” said Chris Fritz, president of New West Presentations.
