It is good news that Chautauqua Institution will be able to proceed with its $41.5 million amphitheater renewal project.

Late last week, the Hon. Frank A. Sedita III ruled in state Supreme Court that he would lift a temporary restraining order that had halted the project for two weeks and deny a motion for a preliminary injunction that would have extended the restraining order for the rest of the lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by the Committee to Preserve the Historic Chautauqua Amphitheater and five property owners on the institution grounds, ended up costing the institution $75,000. Sedita’s decision allows the institution to meet its June timeline for the first phase of work without affecting this summer’s season. Major construction will continue after the summer season.

We will be interested in reading Sedita’s full written opinion once it is finished. One thing we noticed in Sedita’s oral ruling from the bench, however, is that the state Supreme Court justice was able to cut through a year’s worth of rhetoric and hard feelings over the two weeks that he has heard arguments and witnesses. He addressed the legal question of whether Chautauqua Institution had followed applicable local laws and environmental reviews as well as the larger question of whether or not institution officials were disregarding more than a hundred years of history on little more than a whim.

“This is not a mindless demolition of a treasured historical building for the purpose of replacing it with a ‘Lego-like’ replica,” Sedita said from the bench.

That’s what we’ve been saying all along. Well said, Mr. Sedita.