Using Music to Create Community

Site Specific spoke with Liz Levitt Hirsch, board chair for Levitt Pavilions and the President of the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, about the organization's revitalization strategy. "In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, we helped transform the nation’s largest brownfield — on the grounds of the defunct Bethlehem Steel — into an incredibly vibrant arts campus," says Hirsch in the article. "What was once dirt and weeds and prohibited from use, is now a state-of-the art performance venue and a grassy lawn that the community uses throughout the year. And in Arlington, Texas, the Levitt has brought record-breaking crowds to the once-dormant downtown area. So many people visit the Arlington pavilion each year—over 120,000 people during the concert season alone---that numerous businesses and restaurants have popped up to support the foot traffic. It’s been a boon for the local economy."

Hirsch says that pavilions are currently in development for Denver and Houston.