GEDDES, N.Y. — As summer approaches in Central New York, many people are looking forward to spending evenings along the shores of Onondaga Lake and catching live music at the Empower FCU Amphitheater at Lakeview, one of the region’s biggest seasonal attractions.
The venue draws major concert acts and thousands of fans, but its path to opening was marked by skepticism and political debate.
Before the amphitheater opened in 2015, it was promoted as part of a broader push to revitalize Onondaga Lake, which for decades was better known for industrial pollution than recreation. Local leaders aimed to turn the waterfront into a destination and viewed a modern concert venue as a symbol of that transformation…