Amphitheater is called riverfront reclamation catalyst Posted 4/14/00 by John Gessner Staff Writer The proposed Black Dog Amphitheater took center stage again this week as city officials answered critics of the project, released new information, and described the 19,500-seat venue as the catalyst for reclamation of Burnsvilleís western riverfront. Officials announced at an April 11 City Council work session that developers the Minnesota Wild and Rose Presents are changing their site plan to move the open-air structure 1,000 feet to the south. The current plan calls for the amphitheater to be built immediately adjacent to the Minnesota River in an abandoned limestone quarry, said John Shardlow, Burnsvilleís planning consultant. Under the new plan, the $15 million structure would remain in the quarry but be moved south because of problems with a river dike built by the owners of the 180-acre site, the McGowan family. If the dike is too high, it could back up flow and cause problems in cities upstream, Shardlow said. But if the dike is too low, the amphitheater would be vulnerable to ì50-yearî flood events and have to be floodproofed ó a major construction and insurance cost, Shardlow said. So under the new site plan, the amphitheater would be relocated, the McGowan dike would be leveled, and a new, Army Corps of Engineers-approved dike would be built further south of the river, Shardlow said. The land adjacent to the river would be ìreclaimedî for wetland areas, public parkland and trails, Shardlow said. ìOur eye has always been on the prize of reclaiming the riverfront,î Shardlow said. And while testing strongly indicates the proposed amphitheater wonít spew noise into Bloomington neighborhoods to the north, moving the building 1,000 feet to the south ìcould only have a positive effect,î Shardlow said. Bloomington residents, city officials and three state lawmakers from Bloomington have fought the amphitheater proposal. Meanwhile, Mike Mcgowan of the McGowan family has come under fire from the Army Corps of Engineers for discharging fill material into wetlands adjacent to the river for the purpose of adding to the dike and building an open water basin. Burnsville ìdoes not condone Mr. McGowanís construction of a levee without a permit,î City Manager Greg Konat said in a March 24 letter to a Bloomington amphitheater opponent. But issues involving the dike would be resolved, he said then. An opportunity? Konat said the amphitheater holds ìlong-term economic benefit for our communityî if approved. Delays ó including Bloomingtonís efforts to strip the city of its environmental-review authority and revision of the site plan ó have forestalled the required publication of an environmental assessment worksheet (EAW) in a Minnesota Environmental Quality Board publication. Meanwhile, fevered amphitheater opponents are jumping to conclusions and, in some cases, spreading falsehoods, Konat said. ìThe (City Council) hasnít even had a chance to look at any of the information thatís being prepared,î Konat told an audience that included the council, three city advisory commissions and a handful of amphitheater opponents. The 1,600-acre quadrant south of the river and west of I-35W has ìwonderfulî redevelopment potential, Konat said. An area thatís been home to landfills and mining pits ó including the old McGowan landfill, an active landfill operated by USA Waste and the vast Edward Kraemer and Sons limestone quarry ó could be transformed into new businesses and green space, according to Konat. And he said citizen-based planning forums have shown that Burnsville residents favor riverfront reclamation. ìThe city has been talking about and planning for this type of development for 12 years or more,î he said. Road projects to serve the amphitheater ó some of which are needed anyway ó would unleash development potential in an isolated area with poor traffic access, Konat said. The key project is a freeway interchange at Black Dog Road. ìFreeway access points are gold,î said City Engineer Chuck Ahl. The other major projects are a rebuilt Embassy/Landfill Road that would carry traffic north to the new interchange, and a long-discussed extension of Cliff Road to County Road 5, to be built in four-lane parkway style. Funding would come from tax-increment financing revenue generated by the amphitheater, special assessments and other sources. ìThis area has struggledî because of poor road access, Ahl said. ìThese are roads that the city of Burnsville needs in the area, and yes, they will serve the amphitheater. However, the amphitheater is the catalyst for them,î he said. Future developments could include a golf course on the Burnsville Sanitary Landfill, which is adjacent to a huge mining pit where dewatering will cease and a 300-acre lake will form once mining is done in 10 to 15 years, Konat said. Officials hope the area will someday attract corporate headquarters and office buildings. Nuisances? The City Council first approved a planned unit development allowing an amphitheater on the site in 1988. An environmental assessment worksheet was done then, with opportunities for comment by the public and regulatory agencies. The city could rely on that document but is completing an updated EAW that may be published next month, Shardlow said. A 1989 study included in the EAW found that amphitheater concerts wouldnít violate state noise-pollution standards, he said. On Jan. 7 of this year, a sound consultant hired by the developer took loudspeakers to the site and blasted 105 decibels of sound. Shardlow said the sound registered above the ìambientî level (which includes freeway noise) in one Bloomington back yard among those tested. He also said the amphitheater shell, noise berms and downcast speakers would mitigate noise from the completed project. ìNone of that was factored in when we did the (Jan. 7) noise analysis,î Shardlow said. He said the amphitheater will host 25 to 35 shows a year ó two or three of which would be expected to draw capacity crowds. Konat said the City Council has insisted it wonít approve the project unless adequate noise and other controls can be guaranteed through a new planned unit development. ì(The controls) exist right now,î he said. ìTheyíre in the current (1988) PUD.î Landfill closure The public interest will be served by closure of the 170-acre inoperative landfill on the McGowan property, Konat said. The amphitheaterís 6,000-stall, crushed-limestone parking lot would sit atop the landfill. Konat said the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is poised to spend $20 to $25 million to close the landfill ó a Superfund cleanup site ó with safeguards such as a plastic cap and systems for collecting leachate and methane gas. ìIf the amphitheater is not built, the landfill will remain uncapped for years,î according to a city fact sheet on the amphitheater proposal. Konat said the cityís interest is securing a binding closure agreement between the McGowans and the MPCA, who have had years of stormy relations. Closing the landfill with more than the minimal safeguards ó in a fashion that allows the property to be used and inhabited ó will cost more than $20 to $25 million, and the MPCA wonít shoulder the extra cost, Konat said. So the city has entered negotiations between the landowner, the developers and the MPCA to hasten the agreement, said Konat, adding that the landowner and the developers must pay the extra costs. ©Thisweek Newspapers