CLEVELAND, Ohio — Construction began Tuesday on a 6,200-seat outdoor amphitheater along the Cuyahoga River near Tower City, the largest outdoor music venue the city has seen in a generation. Developer Bedrock, Live Nation and Cleveland leaders gathered at the site for the groundbreaking.
Live Nation will operate the venue, which Bedrock is building with partner Rock Entertainment Group. Rock Entertainment Group’s chief executive, Nic Barlage, said the first performance is expected in May 2028. The site sits beside the Cleveland Clinic Peak Performance Center, which is under construction for the Cavaliers and is scheduled to open next August.
The project adds to Bedrock’s 35-acre redevelopment of the riverfront. Over the next two years the same partners are also bringing the Cosm entertainment venue and the Sirens, Cleveland’s WNBA expansion team, to the area. Live Nation projects about 350 jobs from the amphitheater.
Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin described the venue as a cornerstone of a larger entertainment district planned for the waterfront, tying it to jobs and small-business growth in nearby neighborhoods. Mayor Justin Bibb noted that the city sees a new groundbreaking about every six months along the riverfront.
The last amphitheater of comparable size in Cleveland, a roughly 5,000-seat venue built on Tower City’s parking lots, opened in 2001, and nothing similar has been built since. Bedrock’s managing director, Dan Whalen, says he envisions 500 to 800 homes in the neighborhood over several phases, though the developer has not yet released details on apartments or the next phase of Tower City Center.