The Rose can seat 4,200 concert-goers and employs about 200 people seasonally.
What happened to make the Rose a reality? Here is a look at the early days of planning and construction that led to the Rose being the place it is today.
» PHOTOS: The Rose Music Center at The Heights through the years
The city’s proposal
In December 2012, the Dayton Daily News first reported that the city of Huber Heights was moving forward on a proposed $10 million outdoor music center that would anchor the $220 million commercial development near the Interstate 70 and Ohio 201 interchange.
That cost in the proposal quickly changed to $18 million, with $10 million going to the music venue and another $8 million going towards other costs related to the project.
The original name in the proposal was “The Music Center at the Heights.”
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
City council unanimously passed legislation authorizing $100,000 to perform due diligence on the proposal.
The city hoped that the venue would attract restaurants, hotels and other amenities to the 140-acre retail and entertainment component of The Heights.
Moving dirt
Officials held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site on May 18, 2013.
Construction officially started in September 2013. The Music Center was to be modeled after the PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati.
The project was originally scheduled to open in the late summer of 2014.
Change orders to the VIP area and concession area upgrades caused delays, as the city had to approve extra spending to cover the costs. The construction project completed in early 2015.
Naming rights
The name “The Stuart and Mimi Rose Music Center at The Heights” was approved by the Huber Heights City Council in a $4 million lifetime naming rights deal with the Stuart Rose Family Foundation in 2015.
Mimi said that donation was triggered by a Dayton Daily News article that announced Huber Heights was seeking a naming sponsor for its new venue.
“I think you’re going to want to do this,” she told her husband as she handed him the newspaper.
Stuart said it was a natural fit in a previous interview with the Dayton Daily News.
“I spent 40 years working in North Dayton,” said the businessman whose company, REX American Resources Corp., was located in Harrison Twp. “I wanted to do something for the people on that side of town who had worked for — and patronized — our company.”
Open house and first concert
The first concert at the venue was held the night before the open house, on May 2, 2015. Grammy-nominated Christian rock band NEEDTOBREATHE was the inaugural concert.
The Community open house was held for the Rose on May 3.
The first 2,000 people in attendance at the open house received a complimentary Rose Music Center inaugural season lanyard and ticket holder.
At the start of the event, there will be a special recognition by elected officials and an official ribbon-cutting.
“I’m very happy that we are able to open it up to not only the Huber Heights residents, but the region in general, and to showcase what the taxpayers have been able to assemble,” Huber Heights Councilman Mark Campbell said at the time. “It’s a real gem and something that all the residents should be very proud of.”
The city originally thought 12 to 15 concerts would be realistic, but in its first season, the Rose Music Center hosted 29 shows.