Among the more spectacular plans for San Pedro’s new West Harbor waterfront redevelopment is a 6,200-seat outdoor amphitheater that will feature an array of musical genres, including popular rock acts.
But the plan has drawn concerns about amplified sounds and other disruptions to nearby neighborhoods in south San Pedro.
This week, developers, adding that neighborhood compatibility is a priority, released an updated design that they hope will speak to some of those apprehensions.
Changes include a pivot of the stage slightly east, pointing more toward the port shipping channel’s water, and a design that allows for more flexibility to use small speaker boxes that can be more easily spaced apart and have a more specific directional focus.
The new design also features more amenities and space for performers to load, unload and store large equipment, and an additional 2,000-space surface overflow parking lot.
Studio One-Eleven has been working with the West Harbor developers and Nederlander Concerts in Los Angeles, which will manage the venue that will sit on far southern end of West Harbor’s 42-acre linear footprint.
The venue will feature bookings across all genres and kinds of music, from jazz to rock and symphonic, perhaps even Broadway-style summer theater. Entertainment in the tradition of Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and other singer-songwriters will likely be especially drawn to the site, said Nederlander COO Rena Wasserman.
The amphitheater currently is undergoing a supplemental environmental impact review that is set to be released sometime later this year. That will be followed by a public review for input.
“The shape of the venue compared to the previous design will make it easier to hang sound (equipment) and focus that toward the audience as opposed to anything bleeding out into the neighborhood,” Wasserman said in a telephone interview on Thursday, Aug. 17.
The stage area, also, she said, has been “pivoted a little bit more toward…
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