In 1987 an open
air stage was built in the plaza between Festival Park and the Grand
Entrance to the Towers. The stage became the park's sixth new
performance venue since 1980, and was dedicated to bring music to
the park, even having it's own houseband, Red Sun.
In 1988, when
Henry Hound bounded into the park he took over the stage to house
his very own musical extravaganza, Henry's Celebration. The
distinctive dome, which became something of an icon in the park was
added for the 1989 season, when the park had realised that the Great
British climate wasn't ideal for a fully open air stage.
The Festival Park
Dome, as the venue had become known carried on hosting Henry's shows
for nearly the whole duration of the hound's time at the park, with
Henry's Festival Spectacular
(1989), Henry's Time Machine (1990-1990) and Henry Hound's Super
Sounds (1991-1992). In 1993 Super Sounds gave way to Music Mania,
which was essentially the same show, only without featuring Henry
Hound.
The final show to be
performed in the Festival Park Dome was the Music Powerhouse, which
ran from 1994 through to 1998, the last year the dome was used as a
theatre venue. While shows ceased to be performed the dome remained
as a redundant and yet dominating feature within Fountain Square for
several years, until 2002 when it was converted into a restaurant,
eventually becoming the Hogs Head Bar and Grill.
After nearly twenty
years, the dome's time at the park came to an end when it was
eventually demolished at the start of 2007 to make way for a more
permanent restaurant, Rita's Chicken and Ribs.
