Former amphitheater

Historical Monuments

Description

The former amphitheater is now part of the Waszkiewicz Park and is located halfway up the terminal moraine formed in this area. The amphitheater consists of three terraces - the highest one and the middle one are designed for standing audiences, the lowest one serves as a stage. Right in front of the stage, there are seats in six double rows. Currently, the amphitheater is mainly used for recreation. Until the 1990s, numerous municipal and military events took place here, including performances during the Spring Festival on the Neisse River.

Historical background

Until the end of the 1970s, there was a makeshift stage in the area of the present amphitheater, where municipal and military events and concerts were held. Due to the terrain and the need to adapt this space to increasing cultural and musical events, the idea was to build an amphitheater in this place. In 1979, as part of the cooperation between the Gubin garrison and the city authorities, an amphitheater was put into use, located in the immediate vicinity of the Garrison Soldiers' Club (Pol. Garnizonowy Klub Żołnierski (GKŻ)), whose rooms on the ground floor were used as a dressing room for artists during organized events. The employees of GKŻ were responsible for the operation and maintenance of the facility. The amphitheater functioned until the mid-1990s, when the garrison began to slowly withdraw from the city, and the club left its quarters, which was handed over to the District Court.

The political and structural transformations of the next 20 years, which pushed the adaptation of many recreational and cultural facilities into the background, as well as technical progress allowing for the organization of events of much better acoustic quality in more profitable spaces, also affected the amphitheater, which began to fall into disrepair.

In 2011, at the city's request, the Polish OKAZ landscape architecture design studio made a project to revitalize this historically important recreational space. The current form of the amphitheater is the result of this concept, changed in the area of the upper terrace. Today, the amphitheater has a purely recreational function, informally being part of the Gen. A. Waszkiewicz. The facility requires thorough cleaning and renovation of damaged seats.