Amphitheater open house set

An open house Wednesday will showcase changes at Pacific Amphitheatre, Orange County Fairgrounds officials said.

From 6 to 9 p.m., fairgrounds officials will discuss what’s ahead for the Costa Mesa concert venue, which is undergoing major renovation work that they say will make it more intimate.

The event begins with fare from gourmet food trucks and a presentation of what’s ahead at this summer’s fair. Around 7 p.m., Fair Board Chairman Douglas La Belle and Gary Hardesty, the fairgrounds’ chief technology and production officer, will speak, followed at 7:30 by a

behind-the-scenes tour of the amphitheater.

The venue, built in the early 1980s, had a 3-acre berm that was excavated earlier this year, bringing the house’s capacity down to around 8,500 with the existing hard seating. The land will be repurposed and a new entrance at the site of the Memorial Gardens Building built. The building, an old World War II barracks, is set to be demolished with an eye toward preserving its historic contents.

—Bradley Zint

Twitter: @bradleyzint