CUMMING - The thousands of people who have been getting their country music fix at Lanierland Music Park will have to look elsewhere starting next year.
A posting on the Lanierland Web site says the decision has been made to permanently close the venue and that the owners and staff are retiring.
Lanierland opened in 1970 to two sold out shows featuring Hank Williams, Junior. The concerts were held in an old circus tent and 36-hundred people turned out.
Three years later, the owners purchased a building that has been expanded several times to seat 4,346.
The final concert was scheduled October 21, but George Jones cancelled.
The 66-year-old manager and co-owner Brenda Jones says managing the park was becoming too much.
She made the decision after Jones canceled after being injured in a fall.
Jones began managing the park in 1971 -- a year after it opened when her husband, Leon, and his brother Robert Jones became co-owners. Later they were joined by another partner, Tommy Bagwell.
Musicians sold out the 4,00-seat venue in its heydays in the 1980s.
But in recent years, attendance has dwindled as other venues in Atlanta's northern suburbs brought competition. Those venues also serve alcohol, while Lanierland has remained dry.
Jones expressed regret over the park's sudden closure and said everyone would have felt better if there could have been a final show.
"The owners and staff truly thank it's patrons for 36 wonderful years of business - without you it wouldn't have been possible," according to the Web site.
The posting says most of the ticket holders for the last performance have received their refunds but if you have not, please mail the park your ticket and receipt and a refund will soon be in the mail. Tuesday November 21 is the cutoff date for refunds. Requests should be mailed to: Lanierland Music Park, 6115 Jot-em Down Road, Cumming, Ga. 30041.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
Tuesday
May 21st, 2024
9:17PM
