Bonner Springs On The Fritz

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Bonner Springs, Kan., is the first facility jettisoned by Live Nation to find another operator, as Wyandotte County’s board of commissions approved a pact with concert promoter Chris Fritz to manage the 18,000-capacity shed.

Fritz’s New West Presentations will replace Live Nation, inking a management deal through 2009.

The Capital-Journal reports that the shed will revert to its original name of Sandstone Amphitheatre and undergo a major "greening."

The Sandstone gig will not be a new one for Fritz – he managed the venue back in the SFX days and reportedly was one of its earliest backers.

New West plans to remove Verizon’s lower-level seats and make the shed GA, although the theatre’s second tier of seats would remain, according to the Kansas City Star.