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Two music-industry powerhouses and Waterloo Conservancy will partner to bring a new venue in Waterloo Park to life, conservancy CEO Peter Mullan announced Tuesday.
Live Nation Entertainment and locally based C3 Presents and will be in charge of operating and programming the Moody Amphitheater in Waterloo Park, an outdoor public and performance space with a 5,000-person capacity. The new amphitheater was designed by New York firm Thomas Phifer as part of the ongoing Waterlooo Greenway project.
The Greenway, a partnership between the conservancy and the city, will ultimately be a linear park that connects a mile and a half of revitalized, existing parks along and around Waller Creek.
City-owned Waterloo Park, which was the first venue for now-defunct Fun Fun Fun music festival, has been closed for redevelopment for several years. It’s expected to reopen, along with the new amphitheater, in fall 2020. The largest park in the greenway, it has 11 acres of green space and 1.5 miles of hike-and-bike trails.
This redeveloped space is intended to become an entertainment hub (which, arguably, it was before), with a portion of revenues going to Waterloo Greenway to support park operations. The music promoters will bring will touring and local artists to the new stage, with a full concert season starting in spring 2021.
The Moody Amphitheater will be built directly into the landscape and was designed to be flexible, able to host large-scale productions as well as serving as publicly accessible park space when not being used for big performances.
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Waterloo Greenway will also begin community programming when the park opens, offering “a diverse range of free and low-cost offerings including physical and mental wellness activities, multidisciplinary live performances, film screenings, and more,” according to a conservancy statement.
C3 Presents partner Charles Attal called the amphitheater “the venue Austin has been missing for many years,” saying “it’s the perfect size for some of today’s hottest touring acts, and with the beautiful urban downtown setting, it will be one of the most special places to see live music in the country.”
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Construction of Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park
In addition to being the original site of Fun Fun Fun Fest, Waterloo Park hosted public art and such events as Spamarama, Pachanga, Mess with Texas, the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival, and the Ice Cream Festival since 1978.
“Waterloo Park has a special history of bringing the community together, and we’re proud to carry that forward,” said Mullan.
Completion of the amphitheater is part of the first phase of the Waterloo Greenway project. That phase also includes the renovation of Symphony Square. The second phase will take place on the part of the creek that runs alongside the Red River Cultural District, and the third phase will include Palm Park, the Creek Delta, and a pontoon bridge across Lady Bird Lake.
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