Final amphitheater site plan gets OK from planning board

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Grand Rapids Planning Commission on Thursday approved the final site plan for the Acrisure Amphitheater.

The commission was granted final approval of the site plan as a condition when the special land use permit for the new amphitheater along the Grand River on Market Avenue near US-131 was OK’d in June 2023.

After nearly an hour of discussion and calling for additional greenery along the site’s Market Avenue wall, the board unanimously approved the materials presented and the site’s overall façade.

“We were very comfortable with some of the suggestions that were presented,” Bill Culham with Grand Action 2.0, the group behind the project, said.

He added that the material it chose alongside design firm Progressive AE is meant to weather long West Michigan winters while highlighting the venue as a civic space. Grand Action 2.0 also worked with the city and its master plan as it created the venue’s riverfront access point .

“(So) as the river project gets complete and is eventually tied in with the balance of the city that it looks like it’s always been there, it’s always been part of the amphitheater and that the amphitheater has embraced the river,” Culham said.

Not everyone was happy about the final approval. Ron VanderVeen, who spoke before the committee on behalf of some Plaza Tower condo owners, expressed concern over sound and the lack of sound barriers for those who live northeast of the amphitheater.

“When you have loud bass and guitars and drums like you do during any type of program that will be at the amphitheater, it’s just a straight shot into their condos and residences there,” he said. “My concern is that they’ve given final site plan approval. Under the ordinance, they are supposed to consider noise under the site plan.”

Grand Action 2.0 will submit its final sound study to the city next month.

The amphitheater is already under construction and is expected to open to the public in 2026.

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