By Kyle Jackson
On May 16, the Acrisure Amphitheater, nicknamed the “AMP,” held a free public open house to celebrate its grand opening.
The event featured multiple local music artists and groups, food trucks, and offered various other activities for kids and adults alike, such as a self-guided tour, yard games, and more.
Several Grand Rapids locals and people from surrounding cities and towns traveled to experience the new attraction with family and friends and gain a better understanding of the venue.
Amy Jo Timm, a Kentwood resident, attended the event with her friend for that exact purpose.
“We’re trying out all the seats to find out where we want to buy seats compared to where we were.” Timm said, “We were up in Section 206, Row B, which is really good, and then we were going to come see Hank Williams Jr. and Brooks and Dunn.”
Timm attended the show the day before the open house at the AMP, which hosted its first concert, featuring Lionel Richie, on April 18.
Select organizations attended the event as well, such as the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, which provided yard games, crafts, and other toys for the younger attendees, and Meijer provided a football tossing game.
Carson Frisch, a Grand Rapids local who lives less than two blocks from the AMP, and his friend Alex Stewart both attended the event to see what the past two years of construction brought.
“It’s awesome, we’ve been looking at all the different architectural designs, we’re loving the lawn,” Frisch said, “it’s just a really, really awesome place. Definitely a good addition to the city.”
“I was comparing it to Pine Knob over on the east side,” Stewart said, “It’s just so much different, it’s so much better. The view too, back behind the lawn, is just, it’s a view of GR that you haven’t seen before.”
With the AMP now open, concerns about transportation and parking have arisen.
Some attendees, like Timm, parked at Cherry Street. Local residents mostly walked to the AMP, while others took the bus to the new bus stop behind the AMP or simply walked like Frisch and Stewart.
“(Traffic is) not terrible,” Frisch said. “We just walk. We don’t need to worry about traffic, thankfully. But last night, getting home from work around 4:30 to 5, it was a little hectic.”
The musical events began an hour after opening at noon, beginning with Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys on the main stage, with surrounding stages having groups like Girls Choral Academy, New City Kids Music, and more throughout the day. The full list of performances can be accessed here.
Upcoming events include Kid Cudi on May 27, Russell Dickerson on May 30, and more.
Overall, hundreds of people attended the opening celebration, with the overall consensus being that the AMP was an impressive addition to Grand Rapids.
