Nearly 200 on-hand for Acrisure Amphitheater groundbreaking in downtown GR

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A new era in outdoor entertainment harkens in downtown Grand Rapids.

About 200 business, government and community leaders attended a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday afternoon for the $184 million Acrisure Amphitheater. It will be built along the Grand River waterfront on Market Avenue near Williams Street, south of Wealthy Street.

The nonprofit economic-development organization Grand Action 2.0 hosted the ceremony. It has helped spearhead the project, which will result in a venue that will accommodate up to 12,000 spectators for various events.

Acrisure provided a $30 million lead gift. The "Next Wave Capital Campaign" is trying to raise 70-million dollars in private funding. The other 114-million dollars for the project will come from public funds.

Here are more details provided in a news release:

“The Acrisure Amphitheater is part of a collaborative community vision that will shape the Grand Rapids landscape, connect people and places, enrich our quality of life, and bolster our economy for generations to come,” said Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss, who spoke at the event. “It will catalyze significant investments in housing, retail and commercial properties. It will bring new jobs, inspire entrepreneurial opportunities and drive regional tourism. And, it will stimulate public investments in parks, greenspaces, trails and connectivity between neighborhoods and with our namesake river.”

Grand Action Co-chair Dick DeVos used the opportunity to look back over nearly 20 years of planning for the large-scale amphitheater. He noted the important role of key public sector partners, including the City of Grand Rapids, Kent County, the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention Arena Authority, the Downtown Development Authority, Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. As with previous Grand Action projects, private-public partnerships and funding are hallmarks of the Acrisure Amphitheater development.

Acrisure Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO, Greg Williams, spoke about what drove the company’s $30 million lead gift and its broader commitment to the Grand Rapids community.

“Acrisure is proud to support the vision of Grand Action 2.0,” said Williams. “As a major employer, we’re committed to investing in Grand Rapids for the benefit of our employees and the greater marketplace. Transformative projects like the amphitheater are simply visible displays of the pride and purposeful intent we have for the region.”

Grand Action Co-chair Carol Van Andel revealed new amphitheater renderings and gave an update on the Next Wave Capital Campaign, an effort to raise $70 million in private funding, led by campaign cabinet co-chairs Todd Custer and Tripp Frey.

“True to form, the Grand Rapids area philanthropic community has stepped up and brought us well past the 50% mark in the ‘Next Wave’ campaign,” said Van Andel.

Public dollars are also key in the amphitheater funding mix. In April, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation allowing Kent and seven other counties to seek approval from voters to raise their local lodging taxes to support large-scale economic development projects. The Kent County Board of Commissioners voted on May 2 to put the proposed lodging tax increase on the August ballot.

“Now, residents of Kent County will have an opportunity to support this exciting project,” Van Andel said. “When you vote ‘yes’ at the ballot box in August, you’ll vote for a tax that you don’t pay. Visitors who stay in our local hotels pay the tax to fund the assets that attract them to our community and that we will all enjoy for generations to come.”

Pioneer Construction will lead amphitheater construction in a joint venture with Barton Malow. Tim Schowalter, president and CEO of Pioneer, said that over the next two years, they expect to employ 700 construction workers on the site and that $6 million of the construction budget will be invested in minority-owned, women-owned, and micro-local business enterprises.

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