GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After a lengthy Thursday meeting at City Hall, the Grand Rapids planning commission approved the designs and plans for the downtown amphitheater project that’s slated for construction on Market Avenue near Williams Street.
READ: Grand Rapids reveals designs for riverfront amphitheater downtown
“It feels great. I have to say that we have a great city as a partner in this project and the planning commission is part of that,” said Kara Wood, executive director of Grand Action 2.0. “As a growing city, it’s important to have committed citizens represented on the planning committee making these decision on behalf of our region.”
Grand Action 2.0 is the private development group behind the project.
The outdoor amphitheater is projected to have 12,000 seats, 7,000 fixed and 5,000 on the lawn, along with alcohol and food vendors. Grand Action said it’ll bring in a total of $490 million into the city over the next 30 years.
Even though the venue will be built near DeVos Place and Van Andel Arena, Wood says parking won't be an issue.
“There is plenty of parking and also all of the mobility mechanisms in place for our growing city to embrace all of the visitors that want to be a part of these great venues,” Wood said. “And, I think that Mobile GR services are doing a great job of employing all of the possible ways in which people can get to the venues and part of our great city.”
Another issue that was discussed during the meeting was noise, a topic that a few people said they were concerned about during the public comment portion of the meeting.
One man stood at the podium and stated that during concerts, decibels reach 100 db.
Grand Action said they’ve considered that as well, and even hired a group that conducted a vibration analysis at the site and a sound model.
“We’ve done as much research as we’ve possibly can to make sure that the mitigation efforts that are being put in place will help us with the mitigation overall,” Wood said. “And there are still a few more steps that we could take. But at this point, all indication is that the mitigation design that we have in place will be sufficient.”
Wood said their focus now is moving from a schematic design phase to the design development phase.
“What’s next? Well, we’ve got a lot of work ahead,” Wood said. “This was a great milestone for us to achieve. But the project is very complex. We’ve got a lot of work ahead.”
