We focussed on creating an inclusive venue where everyone feels like a VIP
– SHoP founding partner Gregg Pasquarelli

A 10,000 capacity amphitheatre-cum-public park is to provide a “year-round epicentre for live music and entertainment”, according to its architects.

New York-based SHoP Architects have been chosen by First Avenue Productions – the developer and offshoot of the legendary Minneapolis music venue First Avenue – to design the Community Performing Arts Center (CPAC) on the Mississippi River waterfront in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US.

“We focussed on creating an inclusive venue where everyone feels like a VIP,” said SHoP founding partner Gregg Pasquarelli. “We also wanted to allow for a larger, open park and green space for the north Minneapolis residents and surrounding communities to enjoy.”

For 315 days per-year the site will be a park, open to the public. Then, for 50 days per year, the space will be transformed into the CPAC – an outdoor live music and entertainment venue.

6,000 fixed seats will sit in a raised steel structure, dubbed ‘the Gantry’, which will allow members of the public freedom of movement underneath so the park can function as normal. The additional 4,000 seats will be placed on the lawn below ‘the Gantry’ when music and performing arts events are taking place.

The amphitheatre has been designed to replicate the intimacy of the First Avenue venue in central Minneapolis and can also shapeshift into an enclosed, smaller performance space during the winter. The geometry and proportions of ‘the Gantry’ are optimised so that clear views of the stage are available from the lawn.

First Avenue will build and operate the new venue. Construction is due to start in late-2020 or early-2021.