Elkhart looks to spark downtown revitalization with $40M amphitheater
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City officials want downtown Elkhart to become northern Indiana’s next concert destination.
A coalition of supporters earlier this year announced their desire to build a $40 million outdoor concert venue on Elkhart’s Central Green, across from the Lerner Theater and overlooking the Elkhart River.
With an 8,000-seat capacity, the attraction would be among the state’s largest outdoor concert venues and comparable in size to the 6,000-seat Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park in Indianapolis.
Local leaders see it as an opportunity not only to grow entertainment in the region but also to serve as a catalyst for homeownership, tourism and small business as officials push for a broader downtown renewal.
The idea has the support of Elkhart city officials, who view the venue’s potential impact as something akin to growth spurred in downtown Indianapolis by the RCA Dome’s construction in the 1980s. And, though Elkhart has never had an outdoor venue of this scale, officials say it’s a fitting project for a city historically known for band instrument manufacturing.
“We’re just at the beginning of creating what Elkhart has already been branded as, with respect to music, and expanding and evolving it,” Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson said.
Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson speaks on the size of the Elkhart AMP project.
It’s a project so big, a team of city officials and supporters have been meeting regularly for months to develop the plans. A not-for-profit group, Elkhart AMP, has taken the lead on coordinating the effort, which grew out of a University of Notre Dame study last January that explored ways to re-energize Elkhart’s downtown spaces.
Plans call for not only an amphitheater, but for 3,000 square feet of retail space, an event center, rooftop amenities and a community park to be built along Elkhart’s Waterfall Drive. The group also envisions a hotel, though Elkhart AMP representatives did not have detailed information about its size, saying that part of the project is expected to come in a later phase.
The group has tapped David M. Schwarz Architects, designer of the Palladium at the Center for Performing Arts in Carmel, for the project. City officials say they want something that feels historic but brings the modern amenities of new construction.
The team says it will partner with national promoters Mammoth Entertainment and Exceptional Artists to book acts, and feel they’re in the right spot to do it.
Locally, Four Winds Field in South Bend has played host to outdoor events, but is not built exclusively for music performance. The far larger Notre Dame Stadium has also attracted big ticket artists like Garth Brooks and Billy Joel, but those types of shows come far less frequently, and both venues are subject to the scheduling around the local teams that make primary use of the fields. And, city leaders say, Elkhart’s location is attractive not only to local concert goers, but to traveling artists.
“We’re in a really, really good area to be routed between larger cities,” said Corinne Straight, Elkhart’s director of communications. “When we look at being routed from a Grand Rapids or a Chicago or something, that really makes Elkhart sit in a sweet spot when it comes to getting these shows that are already on tour.”
Members of the Elkhart AMP group have a wishlist of performers they would like to see play the new amphitheater, but declined in an interview with Inside INdiana Business to name specific artists. The group recently visited a similar venue — The Orion in Huntsville, Alabama, also designed by David M. Schwarz Architects — and said artists like ‘You Say’ singer Lauren Daigle and country performer Jelly Roll have recently played there.
City officials acknowledge they’re working under an “aggressive” timeline, but are supportive of what they call a “textbook example” of a public-private partnership. The Elkhart AMP group hopes demolition at Central Green can begin by December with foundation and steelwork underway in March. The group has set July 4, 2025, as its target for opening the amphitheater.
Some details of the project, however, are not yet finalized. The city owns Central Green and is supportive of its redevelopment, but has not yet committed funding to the project nor has it worked out the structure of how to operate the venue, such as whether it keeps the land and runr the amphitheater as a city-operated facility or whether it might sell the land to an organization like the Elkhart AMP group to run.
Elkhart AMP representatives say they’re working up to a January 2024 fundraising campaign and will apply for grant funding, including the state’s second round of READI grants.
“We have been sort of quietly talking with other community leaders and some corporations in the area and have gotten some wonderful pledges for the project,” said Lori Harris, president and CEO of the Elkhart AMP group. “We feel like we’re about halfway there.”
Roberson talks about the city’s support of a public-private partnership.
Leaders of the Elkhart AMP group say they’re often asked about what effect the project will have on greenspace and parking downtown — both of which Central Green currently offers.
City leaders say when the projects are complete, there will be more greenspace downtown, though planners are still deciding gate placements at the amphitheater, which could determine how much of the project’s new greenspace would remain open to the public.
And, city leaders say the downtown area’s 4,800 existing parking spaces can accommodate the amphitheater, but that there are also talks of adding parking in the future.
“I keep thinking what a wonderful challenge that we’re facing right now that we may have to create more parking because everyone wants to come here,” Harris said. “Let’s keep talking about it because that tells us that we’re doing something right.”
The amphitheater project comes in step with plans to convert downtown Elkhart’s Second and Third streets from one-way to two-way travel to slow traffic, increase walkability and encourage passersby to stop in town.
Elkhart AMP leaders say they hope events, like a winter ice festival with hot chocolate and warming stations, are organized to make use of the amphitheater year-round. The group points to venues like Millenium Park in Chicago and Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville to show an outdoor venue can be successful in cold weather cities.
Popular events on Central Green, like the city’s annual Jazz Fest and regular farmers markets and art walks, will move to other locations temporarily through construction. City leaders say once complete, they expect the amphitheater will become a home to existing and new community events.
“Elkhart will not lose any of its staple attractions….” Straight said. “…we’re committed for this to be a public space, and from the city’s perspective, we understand that even if we have 20 shows a year at that amphitheater, which would be awesome, that’s still 345 nights a year that that space is for the people of Elkhart.”
More information about Elkhart AMP’s proposals can be found on the group’s website at elkhartamp.org.