American Family Insurance Amphitheater
Summer is actually here, and if the weather is still trying to catch up at times, the calendar tells us that it’s almost time for Milwaukee’s biggest summer festival: Summerfest. This year’s event will host more than 800 artists on 12 stages for 11 days—more than 1,000 performances—which earns the festival the title of “The World’s Largest Music Festival,” and rightfully so. The list of artists scheduled to perform on the various stages covers all genres of the pop music landscape: classic rock, rap (old school and new), country, electronica, dance, jam, folk, emo, alt-rock and punk.
For the multitude of music aficionados, there’ll be plenty of upgrades at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater. The ambitious, two-year project has been in full swing for the past 12 months, with the second phase commencing once this year’s festival ends on Sunday, July 7. Phase one has completed work on raising a portion of the existing roof from 39 to 65 feet to increase stage production. In addition, there are 19 new artist dressing rooms, backstage production and office spaces, new catering and dining areas, electrical upgrades and backstage production facilities. Even the loading dock space for semi and tour bus parking has been expanded to accommodate larger shows.
All that additional height and space means that the American Family Insurance Amphitheater can accommodate even more tours with massive productions, and patrons are already seeing the results at this year’s festival with a rare appearance by Jennifer Lopez. It’s been decades since “Jenny from the block” played Milwaukee. This marks her debut appearance at Summerfest and, given J-LO’s custom stage and army of dancers, the newly expanded space and higher roof made a difference in the booking.
Creating the New Amphitheater
The American Family Insurance Amphitheater was designed by Eppstein Uhen Architects in 1985, and construction was completed in 1987 by Hunzinger Construction (the same companies overseeing the current renovations). A bit of music trivia: The first group to play in the new space in 1987 was The Beach Boys, and the first act to hit this year’s amphitheater stage will be Thomas Rhett with Dustin Lynch.
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As for some of the pertinent details about the design and creation of the American Family Insurance Amphitheater:
- The new stage is removable and adjustable from three feet to seven feet. In addition, there is “flat-space seating,” which translates to a flat space available for seating or for artists to add thrusts or a pit area.
- New visuals include six Blizzard LED screens, with two located on either side of the stage and four additional screens throughout the amphitheater.
- Summerfest hired an acoustics expert who assisted with the design and construction plan with the goal of maintaining or improving the quality of the venue. Acoustic material was added throughout, with additional elements to be added in phase two of construction.
- The 19 individual dressing rooms all come equipped with private toilet facilities, showers and make-up areas, including a few areas that can be customized.
- To support larger productions, Summerfest has almost tripled the capacity of the dining facilities to accommodate 150 working personnel.
- Led by project construction manager Hunzinger Construction, engineers began preparing the roof for this complex procedure in summer 2018, involving four months of construction work to actually lift it in September. Approximately half of the current roof was raised, from the stage out to the end of the current reserved seating sections one, two and three, which is approximately 24,100 square feet (half an acre) and weighing some 607,000 lbs. The process of lifting the roof used eight different lifting motors (known as strand jacks), which pulled cables inch by inch from each of the eight points simultaneously until the 26-foot lift was completed. The roof was safely and successfully raised in one day.
Incidentally, Summerfest lost shows in recent years because of the lack of that 60 feet of clearance over the stage for rigging show productions. Now, the American Family Insurance Amphitheater can accommodate stadium-sized concerts. By comparison, that means that the facility can host shows typically staged at Miller Park, Lambeau Field and Fiserv Forum.
Looking beyond the amphitheater for other changes at Summerfest, Uline Warehouse has always been known for its rock acts, and this year promises that and more with updates and renovations. Located at the north end of the grounds, the UW stage was last updated in 2003, but as the crowds have grown, so has the need for additional seating. This year provides more of that, plus a new video screen and updated production technology. There’s now an elevated VIP area on stage, with its own bar and restrooms, and for people with disabilities, the UW stage will have a new viewing area and a separate area to rent wheelchairs.
Looking Ahead to Summerfest 2020
When completed next year, the American Family Insurance Amphitheater will feature those six new high-definition video screens, improved sightlines and new seats in a revised seating configuration. In addition, expanded concourses will feature new food and beverage offerings. The venue will also feature new and remodeled public restrooms. Overall, seating capacity will remain the same (approximately 23,000). The finished building will also add accessibility improvements, including a new elevator with access to all concourses, new ADA seats with improved sightlines and widened pathways.
For sponsors and venue supporters, the new amphitheater will provide access to outdoor private areas overlooking the BMO Harris Bank Pavilion, Lake Michigan and the Downtown Milwaukee skyline. In addition, these areas will provide access to premier seating, including a private entrance through a dedicated VIP entrance turnstile, as well as private VIP areas featuring bars, lounge areas and restroom access.
The official grand opening of the American Family Insurance Amphitheater is scheduled just in time for Summerfest 2020. So if you start counting the days right now, we’re only 372 away, and, unlike our changing weather, Summerfest is a sure guarantee of summer’s arrival every year.
Summerfest 2019 runs Wednesday, June 26, through Sunday, July 7 (closed Monday, July 1) at Henry W. Maier Festival Park on Milwaukee’s Lakefront. For more information, visit summerfest.org.
Read more of our Summerfest coverage, including editor picks, concert previews, daily promotions and opinions here.
