“This is more than just a venue; it is a place where the community will come and celebrate.”
Artist Lionel Richie opened the venue Friday.
Emergency Management Director Benjamin Rance says when the concert ended, the amphitheater and surrounding streets cleared within 12 minutes and with no major highway backups.
“On Friday, we actually had multiple events going on at the DeVos Performance Hall, at Van Andel Arena, at 20 Monroe, at the Intersection. So, it was really a good chance for us to test how our city's going to handle having multiple events on one single evening. And honestly, it went really well.”
Despite pre-opening concerns about downtown parking and traffic, Rance says transportation flowed smoothly.
“Everybody has kind of like their preferred method of how to get to the amphitheater. And really, I think it’s that whole collective system working together, to provide as many options for people as possible.”
Moving forward, Rance says the city needs to tweak some communication issues such as coordination on road closures.
“We just want to make sure we know exactly where those go and what time they need to be there, what time they're picked up.”
Rance acknowledges that a severe weather event is inevitable at an outdoor venue and urges eventgoers to download the city'S emergency app for real-time alerts.
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