Crews are expected to move in this August for the first phase of Willoughby's long-planned Todd Field amphitheater, a roughly $1.8 million project that will install a concrete performance stage and carve out an amphitheater bowl while keeping the existing baseball diamonds in play. The work is intended to better link downtown Willoughby to nearby riverfront parks through new trail connections along the Chagrin River. Early designs suggest seating for about 1,500 people, and city officials say phase one is slated to wrap by spring 2027.
Phase one, which city leaders say should kick off in August, will focus on grading and the concrete stage pad. City documents put the redevelopment cost at about $1.8 million, with $550,000 set aside for the initial construction. The money mix includes a $300,000 state capital grant plus other grant funds and ARPA dollars, according to Cleveland.com.
Planning for the amphitheater has been underway for several years, and early work is being coordinated with the Chagrin River Trail project so both efforts move forward together, per the city’s Mayor’s Report. The city says the amphitheater will be carefully placed so Todd Field’s baseball diamonds are not disrupted, and that the initial phases will home in on entrances and pedestrian links to Daniels Park.
What phase one will build
Concept sketches show phase one delivering the concrete stage pad and an amphitheater bowl with terraced seating, creating a compact venue suited for community concerts and festivals. Designers have floated a seating capacity of roughly 1,500 people, with later phases eyed for parking upgrades, lighting, and stormwater improvements, as reported by Cleveland.com.
Funding, procurement and next steps
City officials say they plan to combine grant awards and ARPA dollars with local funds to get phase one across the finish line. They are also leaning on a design-build approach that has already been used for nearby river-trail work. In 2024, the city issued a design-build RFP for the Chagrin River floodplain restoration and trail connection, according to the City of Willoughby.
How it fits into the river trail and land conservation push
The amphitheater and trail work plug into a broader push to knit together green space along the Chagrin River. Roughly 105 acres between Daniels Park and Todd Field were conserved with help from the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, creating a larger riverfront corridor for trails and habitat restoration, according to Western Reserve Land Conservancy. That conserved land, combined with the floodplain restoration, gives the city room to add trails and pedestrian bridges without turning public parkland into private space.
For neighbors, the first visible changes are likely to be grading and construction staging later this summer, followed by the concrete pad and the seating bowl taking shape through next spring. City leaders say they will keep up public outreach as designs are finalized and bids are awarded, with local programming expected to follow once the bowl and core infrastructure are ready for crowds.
