GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Included in the state's new budget are tens of millions for a new riverfront amphitheater project in downtown Grand Rapids.
The budget includes $30 million allocated to the 12,000-seat amphitheater. Local lawmakers say the project was of great importance when drafting the state's budget.
"We know it's a little bit, like, cliché," says Senator Mark Huizenga. "But we use the word transformational."
Though transformational is the exact impact Michigan lawmakers like Sen. Huizenga expect the new amphitheater to have on Grand Rapids.
Huizenga says the evidence lies in another downtown venue.
"When you think about what happened when they built the Van Andel Arena, it truly changed the face of downtown," says Huizenga.
The arena was the driving force behind turning Grand Rapids into the tourist destination it is today.
"If you ever go to concerts at the Van Andel Arena, and you talk to people, they say I'm from South Bend, I'm from Detroit, people come from all over," says Huizenga. "So it's a regional draw."
Huizenga says the amphitheater has the same appeal.
Local musician Joshua Dreyer agrees.
"I think Grand Rapids can always use more performance spaces for musicians and I think on the river would be the perfect location for it," says Joshua Dreyer, general manager of School of Rock Grand Rapids.
Huizenga says the project was a key talking point while drafting the budget.
"We have to be responsible with the budget, these are all taxpayer dollars, and how do we do the most good with it?" says Huizenga.
Lawmakers agreed the investment is set to benefit the local economy for years to come.
"These are the kinds of things that have staying power, that truly change the environment," says Huizenga.
The money approved is about a quarter of the $116 million needed to build the amphitheater. The rest is expected to come largely through private investments.
This is another big step forward for the project after the sale of the land it will sit on was approved by the city earlier this year.
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