With less than 100 days until Memorial Day weekend, we're preparing for an unforgettable summer at Lakeside. These plans wouldn't be possible without the continued passion and financial support you give, ensuring a bright future for our treasured community.

Please read below to learn about what’s in store for our upcoming Chautauqua season, current Master Plan projects underway, a recent Board decision to increase the Lease Transfer Fee, a new Infrastructure Study and scheduled Community Forums to provide full transparency to our stakeholders.

As always, continue to share Lakeside with your friends and family. Encourage them to sign up for our 2019 Calendar of Events brochure and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.

2019 Chautauqua Program Highlights

Hoover's entertainment lineup is perhaps the most diverse yet. This year, major acts will be featured on Fridays (Three Dog Night, The Lettermen, Sandi Patty), as well as Saturdays (Amy Grant, The Spinners, The Guess Who, Wynonna & The Big Noise, Brian Regan), and our popular Family Entertainment Series returns on select Wednesdays. 

Daniel Meyer, our new Music Director & Conductor, takes center stage in his first season leading the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra. This new era of the orchestra brings a robust repertoire, an official Pops concert and two new matinee youth concerts. 

For the first time, Lakeside will host a Christian Music Retreat this August, led by Zac Hicks, renowned church music leader and author of The Worshipping Pastor. We've also revamped our Chautauqua Choral Festival to focus on masterworks and a cultural-based repertoire. In addition, a series of Chautauqua Vocal Workshops will be presented by college vocal faculty and professional singers and a blues education experience for children is being planned.

 

This summer, we're also introducing a new  Chautauqua Lecture Series schedule, top-notch speakers in Hoover Auditorium (Wm. Paul Young, Dr. Michael Roizen, Steve Hartman), diverse wellness seminars, special workshops and community education programs, as well as many other lifelong learning opportunities to nurture mind, body and spirit.

This year's Prayer Breakfast welcomes Chris Holtmann, Head Basketball Coach at The Ohio State University, as the keynote speaker. He will share his faith journey at the breakfast and his athletic journey at a luncheon, both are ticketed events (early bird tickets available online). Supporting youth programming, Holtmann will also lead The 10:45 Huddle, a Q&A session and impromptu basketball clinic on the new sports courts in Bettinger Park.

Finally, in August, join us for a celebration of the arts as we mark the 20th Anniversary of the Rhein Center and 100th Anniversary of Epworth Lodge. More details to come about these special events.

2019 February Board Transparency Report

As we look toward the 2019 summer season, we anticipate another strong financial year thanks to the outstanding Chautauqua program planned and our marketing outreach. Lakesiders are already booking multiple weekend visits, and hotel reservations are higher compared to this time last year.

We've invested significantly in the caliber of Hoover entertainment, educational lectures and the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra. We're also increasing the Teen Center staff and planning additional programs and experiences for teens.

The new Pickleball Center will open this summer, bringing additional staff, programs and activities to South Lakeside. In elevating youth programming, the Recreation staff is organizing basketball and volleyball clinics and tournaments at the newly renovated sports courts in Bettinger Park, made possible by your gifts in support of Lakeside's #GivingTuesday effort.

To further boost gate attendance, we're investing more this year in our marketing and public relations outreach, specifically in social media and digital advertising.

We're also making significant investments to improve the guest experience:

Master Plan

The first wave of the Master Plan implementation is underway. This summer, you'll see several enhancements across the grounds: 



Thanks to your financial support, generations to come will be enjoying these features as part of their Lakeside experience. This summer, we'll be reaching out to further engage the community and hear your feedback as we move into detailed Master Planning.

Lease Transfer Fee

After having surveyed current practices at other Chautauquas and communities, the Lakeside Chautauqua Board of Directors passed a resolution at the February Board meeting to increase the Lease Transfer Fee to support the operations and maintenance of Lakeside.  

 

The fee will increase from 3 mils to 10 mils or 1 percent of the selling price of the property. The fee is typically paid by the seller and collected by the title company as part of the closing process. The increase will go into effect for transactions that close on or after June 1, 2019.  

Infrastructure Study Proposed as Next Step

Throughout the Master Planning process, the community expressed concern about Lakeside’s overall infrastructure, most notably the streets and storm water system.

Improving Lakeside's infrastructure is a complex, long-term and significant project. Laying out an infrastructure plan: 

One should note that this type of detailed planning will need to take place for each Master Plan initiative.

At the February Board meeting, the Board reviewed a proposed study process and timeline:

Components 

In addition to the study components, Lakeside will hire a Senior Vice President of Municipal Services to manage the study as part of overall responsibility for municipal service functions. The funding for this position will be partly covered by the funding for the study project, with the remainder being covered by the operating budget. 

Deliverables 

Timeline

The Board reviewed a timeline of the study. Preliminary work with the aerial survey and hiring of the Senior Vice President of Municipal Services will begin this month. The aerial survey must be conducted before the trees of Lakeside grow leaves this spring. The remaining survey and engineering work will be completed in the fall and winter of 2019-2020.

Funding

The estimated cost of the study will be more than $500,000. The Board discussed including preliminary engineering plans into the study, which could raise the cost. The study will be funded through a one-time assessment increase. For some Lakeside homeowners, this assessment increase will be partially offset by a reduction in Ottawa County assessments as the regional water special assessment will be eliminated in January 2020. That assessment was instituted when Lakeside streets were paved or repaved as part of a transition to a regional water supply managed by Ottawa County.

 

Phased Improvement Plan

The results of the study will be an infrastructure improvement plan with phased construction and a long-term funding strategy. This phased improvement plan and funding plan would be presented to the community during the summer of 2020, with plans being finalized after we receive feedback from the community.

Stay Up-to-Date

It's vital to keep you up-to-date as we march toward our 150 ^th Anniversary and start to implement the Master Plan. This summer, plan to attend our two Community Forums specifically about Master Planning:

In addition, if you have questions or comments about the Infrastructure Study, please complete an Infrastructure Study Comment Card.

As spring approaches, take part in one of our Lakeside Gatherings around Ohio in April. We look forward to another enriching summer along Ohio's Most Beautiful Mile. See you soon!

In the spirit of Chautauqua,

Kevin Sibbring

Lakeside Chautauqua, President/CEO

Randy Snow

Lakeside Chautauqua Board of Directors, Chair