Oswego's New Venue 1012 Officially Opens After Two Years Of Plans

OSWEGO, IL — Following two years of planning, Oswego's new performing arts and entertainment venue, unveiled as Venue 1012, officially opened Thursday.

Located along Oswego's Orchard Road corridor, at 1012 Station Drive, officials from the village, along with community members, gathered Thursday evening to celebrate the grand opening of the long-awaited venue, previously referred to as the Oswego Entertainment Venue.

Guests were invited to Station Drive to celebrate the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony with beverages and cheesecake — compliments of Steve Buresh's Cheesecake Store & Sandwich Shop, which has a location next to the venue. Bree Gordon Band and Swing Assembly Horns, featuring Oswego teacher Clint Hafenrichter and Oswego High School band director Kevin Schoenbach, provided the entertainment for the evening.

Congressman Bill Foster, State Sen. Linda Holmes, Oswego Village Trustees Tom Guist, Kit Kuhrt, James Marter II, Terry Olson and Jennifer Jones-Sinnott, and a representative of Congresswoman Lauren Underwood’s office also attended the grand opening.

"To see Oswego grow and be such a tightly bound community, to see the vision of the mayor come forward and build this, it just amazes me," Kevin Fialko, who donated the land where the amphitheater was built, said in a statement. "When [Mayor Troy Parlier] approached me about being a part of this, I couldn’t put my hand up fast enough to make that happen."

Parlier announced the $750,000 project during his annual State of the Village address last year. Fialko, the owner of the adjoining Oswego Junction Shopping Center, donated the land to the village in 2019 with a requirement for the village to develop a venue for outdoor live performances and music entertainment within three years, Patch reported.

At the grand opening, Parlier said he remembered standing on the empty land, picturing an amphitheater.

"This wonderful public amenity is being delivered to the Oswego community in time for events yet this year and under budget," he said.

The project was funded by state grants, including an $100,000 one secured by State Rep. Keith Wheeler and another $138,000 grant brought by State Rep. Mark Batinick, as well as several private donors, according to a news release.

"When I was a little kid, nothing like this existed, and now we’ve got tens of thousands of people that call Oswego home," Wheeler said in a statement. "As we’re coming out of this pandemic that we’ve been a part of for the last year and a half, we’re going to need more and more ways for us to get together and rebuild
some bonds of friendship and family, and here we are in a place where we can do that."

Coming in one year sooner than the requirement, Venue 1012 might officially be only a day old, but a slew of events have already been hosted there this summer, including a free concert by Sojourn Rocs that promoted the space in July, as well as the final Movies in the Park screening of "The Greatest Showman" Aug. 12.

More events are planned in the coming weeks, including the first major event: the four-day festival VetFest that starts Aug. 26, where Mötley Crüe Frontman Vince Neil and country duo LOCASH are scheduled to headline.

RELATED: Mötley Crüe Frontman Vince Neil To Perform Solo Show In Oswego

In September, Oswego's Got Talent will be there held Sept. 18. Entertainers can compete for cash prizes and a spot on the stage of future Village of Oswego events.

The U.S. Air Force Band Starlifter will also perform at the venue Sept. 24.

Come October, village staff is giving away 500 pumpkins to residents at the venue, too.

A complete list of events at Venue 1012 can be found here.

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