Continuous noise complaints prompts city to further noise mitigation efforts at Ford Amphitheater

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - City leaders sat down with residents living near the Ford Amphitheater on Tuesday night.

The new concert venue opened this past summer; prompting a lot of push back from neighbors who said the music encroaching into the surrounding area was much louder than what they were led to expect.

On Tuesday, they gathered to do some sounding off of their own at The Classical Academy. More than 200 hundred passionate community members packed inside of the auditorium.

While there were a few who spoke up in favor of the amphitheater, the overwhelming majority expressed their frustration with the mayor, the city, and with the Ford Amphitheater owners.

"What words would you use to describe sitting across from a realtor who says you must disclose your home as being in a noise hazard zone?" one resident said.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade and City Council President Randy Helms were front and center to hear the concerns, "The feelings that you're feeling are feelings of frustration. Yes, I hear you. And it's annoying," Mayor Mobolade said.

However, not all living near the concert venue have had negative experiences, "I love this amphitheater and the surrounding area that it gives our young adults something to do."

To reduce the noise, the city says it has submitted a plan to build additional exterior walls and sound tunnels around ford amphitheater.

The city plans to build additional 28 foot walls and tunnels on the north and south sides of the venue. As well as restructuring the parking landscape and conducting a new sound study.

The mayor concluded the listening session with a commitment to residents, "We will develop a landing page and some kind of dashboard and a city website so that you can just go on and monitor the progress. That way you don't have to live in this cloud of what's going on."

The city says the plan, which was submitted on Tuesday, will hopefully be approved by planners and city council in the next 2 months.  

If approved, the exterior walls and sound tunnels would take between six to eight weeks to build; taking the project right to the start of the concert season in May.