If You Build It, Will They Come?

A father and son team is aiming to build a privately funded amphitheatre in the Quad-Cities area, and although the duo has received little objection from city officials others are questioning whether the project will be well received.

Loren and Mike Arp are apparently ready to break ground on a $5 million amphitheatre in Davenport, Iowa, that could hold up to 40,000 people.

The project would be situated on a 100-acre plot of land and feature a 100- by 60- foot stage, 500 covered seats, lawn, parking for 15,000, and 20 acres of parking for campers, the Quad City Times reported.

"We know there’s plenty of traffic by there. We know we own the land, so the land is not an issue," Loren Arp told the Times. "And the Quad-Cities doesn’t have one."

But simply filling a niche won’t guarantee the shed’s success. The Arps will need to win over both their neighbors and the industry to make the project work.

Alderman Shawn Hamerlinck told the paper that while the property already meets zoning requirements, the team needs to show the community near the proposed venue that traffic and noise won’t negatively affect it.

And as the current trend in the industry sees many companies selling off amphitheatres, the team could face whether such a project will prove to be financially feasible. Live Nation put a handful of sheds on the market this year because the land under them is worth much more money being developed into something else.

It should be noted that many of the LN sheds in question were originally built on property that was in the boondocks but urban sprawl increased the value.