Discussion:
Swervo Development Corporation, applicant, and City of Shakopee/EDA and Canterbury Development LLC, property owners, have applied for a preliminary and final plat for the amphitheater along with the Planned Unit Development District #8 Canterbury Amphitheater for property located north of Barenscheer Blvd., south of Unbridled Avenue, and west of Canterbury Road.
The plat creates a new parcel out of property currently owned by the city's EDA and Canterbury for the amphitheater and another parcel for an adjacent public parking lot. The remaining parcel will be owned by Canterbury and will have a private road through it for additional access to parking. Canterbury at a later date will propose the development of this site with complimentary uses to the amphitheater.
The remaining parcels are the barn area, and two outlots. One is for the future road extension to Disc Drive and the other for future development by Canterbury once the remaining barns in this corner are removed. Canterbury will be bringing forward a PUD amendment for the barn area in September to show replacement barns, dormitories and new circulation for the barn area. About nine barns will be removed this fall to allow construction of the roads that are currently shown.
A separate parcel that houses a crane company is under contract with the developer. Once the developer relocates the company to a new site, they will be amending the plat to include this parcel.
This entire area was the subject of an earlier EAW that was approved by the city council for an amphitheater. The proposed project is a 19,000-seat amphitheater with associated back of house facilities, a roof over the seating area, a large outdoor/lawn area and support facilities under the floors including restrooms, food and beverage services. The facility has a large, enclosed plaza for smaller public events like radio station pre-event parties. The outer areas include large parking lots and one remote lot that will serve as public parking for the surrounding developments when the amphitheater is not being used. When there are events, the lot will be used for ride share, bus drop off from MVTA and Southwest transit and also can serve any remote valet parking needs.
The proposed materials for the facility are steel, concrete and a large fabric canopy that will be semi-transparent so that it can be lighted for special effects.
The facility will host as many as 40 to 60 events a year with probably 10 to 12 of those at the full 19,000 seat capacity. The developer is also exploring ideas on how to activate the spaces with other events potentially during holidays with displays and possibly holiday markets.
This is a very unusual design since it is more like an outdoor arena. The facility is able to house much of the customer service areas including restrooms and food service under the floor while also providing a protective environment in the event of inclement weather for those seated in the grass area.
An Event Management plan still needs to be completed by the developer in cooperation with the city, Scott County and MNDOT to ensure that traffic impacts in the area are mitigated. Many of the issues and solutions were highlighted in the EAW and now must be incorporated into an implementation plan that both Canterbury and the amphitheater must agree to.