Opened in 1921, the McIntire Amphitheatre sits ahead of you, a Greek-style outdoor theater at the University of Virginia. Opened in 1921 with a $120,000 gift from benefactor and University alum Paul Goodloe McIntire, it was part of McIntire's string of sizable early 1920s gifts, which also established the McIntire School of Commerce and the McIntire Department of Music. The theatre grew out of a master plan drafted beginning in 1911 by Warren H. Manning for a new quadrangle that included Common Hall (now Garrett Hall) and Minor Hall.
Designed by Fiske Kimball—the same architect who supervised Memorial Gymnasium and the campus of the Woodberry Forest School—the amphitheatre was intended as an open-air space for "concerts, debates, and the like. At the time it was built it ranked as only the seventh Greek-style outdoor theatre in the United States. Its first use was the 1921 commencement and the celebration of the university's centennial, a fitting debut for a space meant for gathering.
Today it continues to host concerts, speakers, and other events. Notice the intentional planning in the quadrangle toward Common Hall (now Garrett Hall) and Minor Hall.