GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Parking, traffic and sound were big topics of discussion Monday at a community open house at Van Andel Arena for a proposed 12,000-capacity riverfront amphitheater in downtown Grand Rapids that officials hope to break ground on next year.
Many expressed support for the venue, saying it would transform an industrial, underused property at 201 Market Ave. SW into a vibrant hub of music and culture with greenspace and other amenities. But there were also questions about how the venue would affect downtown parking, particularly when there’s other events happening nearby.
“I’m excited that it’s coming to town, but I’m also concerned about parking and parking for employees,” said Sue Stratton, 66, of Cutlerville, who works at Acrisure. “There’s not going to be enough. Especially if we two events at once. One here (Van Andel Arena) and one at the amphitheater at the same time. That’s 24,000 people at least coming down. Where are they going to park?”
Monday’s open house was hosted by Grand Action 2.0, the private economic development group that’s leading the charge to develop the venue in partnership with the city of Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority, and the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority.
It comes as Grand Action’s request for a special use permit to build the venue is set to go to the Grand Rapids Planning Commission for consideration June 22.
Between 90 and 100 people registered for the event, which was held at Van Andel Arena.
The event started with a presentation by Kara Wood, executive director of Grand Action 2.0, and Bill Culhane, an architect from Grand Rapids-based architectural and engineering firm Progressive AE.
Culhane gave an overview of the project, describing how the venue is one piece of a larger redevelopment plan along a 31-acre stretch of Market Avenue between Fulton and Wealthy streets. The area is now home to surface parking lots, the former Charley’s Crab restaurant and industrial buildings owned by the city of Grand Rapids.
A price tag on the amphitheater hasn’t been announced, but it’s expected to exceed $116 million. The amphitheater is expected to account for 10.6 acres of the 31-acre parcel.
The remainder, Cullhane said, would be used for greenspace and other commercial and residential development, including potentially 1,500 to 1,700 housing units. He said the venue and additional development could create an estimated $1 billion of combined residential, commercial, hospitality, entertainment and parking investment in the city. He did not provide a detailed explanation of the figure.
The amphitheater would be built on property that currently houses the city’s public works department. The city will need to move those operations to a site at 1500 Scribner Ave. NW that’s currently owned by Kent County. Purchasing and renovating that site is expected to cost the city about $58 million.
Sound generated by the amphitheater was a topic of discussion at Monday’s meeting.
The venue is located just south of U.S. 131, and while there’s significant traffic and noise generated by the highway, “the amount of sound generation coming from the amphitheater will neutralize the sound coming from the express way,” Cullhane said
“So, we don’t have any concerns about outside sound infiltrating or compromising a performance,” he said.
Steps were also taken to reduce the amount of noise that would filter into surrounding neighborhoods.
Originally, the venue was facing south. But as the design progressed, the venue was rotated 180 degrees to face north, Cullhane said. Doing so was designed to project more sound toward the core downtown where there is less residential housing and reduce the amount of noise traveling into neighborhoods south of Wealthy Street and west of the Grand River.
In addition, the highway will “act as a great neutralizer,” reducing the amount of noise heading north from the venue toward downtown apartments such as Plaza Towers, Cullhane, said.
One resident who lives at Plaza Towers, Anne Hogan, said she was “pleased” with efforts to minimize the venue’s sound.
“I’m excited,” the 73-year-old retired resident said. “I think that it’s going to be a great addition to Grand Rapids. I’m quite pleased with the work they’ve done with the sound mitigation.”
Moving forward, it’s important that new apartments added to the 31-acre stretch along Market Avenue include “affordable” units, Hogan said.
“I think that we need more affordable housing downtown,” she said, pointing out that she was pleased the conceptual plans for the 31-acre site call for mixed-income units.
Officials hope the amphitheater will be open in time for the 2026 concert season.
The venue would have 7,000 fixed seats and 5,000 lawn seats, and officials estimate the amphitheater would host about 30 touring concerts and 20 smaller, community events. It would be operated by the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority, which also oversees Van Andel Arena, DeVos Place and DeVos Performance Hall.
Parking was another big topic of discussion.
Grand Action is only seeking to bring a 116-space parking lot for the venue, which would be reserved for “premiere guests and staff.” Instead, visitors would be pointed toward other public options, such as surface parking lots, garages and meters.
Cullhane said there is about 18,500 parking spaces within a 15-minute walk from the venue. Those spots are in either in city-owned parking garages, surface lots or on-street parking, as well as parking garages owned by private companies or institutions such as Grand Valley State University.
“What that tells us is we have more than enough parking to service the amphitheater,” Cullhane said.
Some attendees were skeptical.
“That is not even close,” Craig Hagen, a 64-year-old retired Grand Rapids resident, said when asked if existing parking would meet demand. “They have to triple the parking.”
He also said he was concerned about traffic.
“For people to get in and out of Grand Rapids, you’ve got to have a better flow of traffic,” Hagen said. “There’s only limited exits of U.S. 131.”
After the initial presentation, attendees broke off for group discussions about specific topics such as the project’s design, traffic, sound and more.
Felicia Sims, a 61-year-old Grand Rapids resident and school health aide for Corewell Health, said she’s pleased plans for additional development surrounding the amphitheater calls for the inclusion of businesses owned by people of color.
“I think it’s great,” she said. “The more businesses that it’s going to bring to Grand Rapids, and the fact that they’re including the black, indigenous people of color … to have a say so and to bring businesses to the amphitheater and the downtown area.”
Wood said she was pleased with the turnout at Monday’s event, and said more community engagement sessions will be forthcoming with various downtown neighborhood and business organizations.
She said the concerns about parking and sound were “valid.”
“Our team has done a great job of addressing those matters, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Wood said. “So making sure that we hear from the public is important to us, so we make sure we leave no stone left unturned when it comes to those important items.”
Moving forward, Wood said she and her colleagues will post answers to questions raised by the public on a frequently asked questions document on Grand Action’s website about amphitheater project.
“Collecting this information will help us improve the contributions that we make to that document, and then the public will have assurance that we’ve at least continued to research those topics and pursue those before we get to the planning commission on (June) 20,” she said.
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