RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Project managers for Richmond’s highly anticipated 7,500 capacity riverfront amphitheater hoped to have the venue built by May 2024, but logistical obstacles have pushed that prospective opening date to Spring 2025.
Last summer, music lovers across the city told 8News how excited they were about the amphitheater, which developers say could be a new Richmond staple. While that excitement doesn’t seem to have changed, Jay smith, a spokesperson for the riverfront amphitheater project, explained why plans have.
“Our earlier timeline was ambitious,” Smith said. “It’s really about doing our due diligence to make sure this project is able to be financed.”
The venue initially had a price tag of approximately $47 million. However, the land’s current owners essentially donated the space, knocking the cost to about $27 million.
“That’s a huge value that makes this project do-able,” Smith said.
Infrastructural complications also added to the delay.
“Tapping into the water line here, sewer systems, and designing it to the landscapes to take advantage of the topography,” Smith explained. “It’s taken a little bit longer to do design work, engineering.”
Although ground hasn’t broken yet, the venue will host between 25 and 35 concerts a year once it opens. According to Smith, the plan is to leave room for the city to fill the venue’s calendar with all sorts of community events outside of ticketed shows. Developers also hope the amphitheater will draw more people into the city — creating a new tourism hotspot in 2025.
“The great views that it has of the river,” Smith started. “With the park systems around here, the museums, being able to build around that really makes this a special place.”
Project managers constructed a website for community members — and potential tourists across the world — to view images and access continued updates to the amphitheater’s progression.
