close
close

Apre-salomemanzo

Breaking: Beyond Headlines!

Sound study of Ford Amphitheater shows how audible concerts were in nearby neighborhoods | News
aecifo

Sound study of Ford Amphitheater shows how audible concerts were in nearby neighborhoods | News

A new study of Ford Amphitheater shows how easily concerts could be heard in some nearby neighborhoods.

The study, prepared for the Colorado Springs City Council by noise consulting firm Hankard Environmental, measured sound levels during the last three October concerts at the amphitheater, both inside the venue 8,000-seat outdoor and residential locations up to a mile away.

The amphitheater, which opened Aug. 9, was built southwest of North Gate Boulevard and Voyager Parkway as part of the Polaris Pointe mixed-use development in far north Colorado Springs. Polaris Pointe is surrounded by thousands of homes, and hundreds of noise complaints have been filed by the city in nearby neighborhoods and in some residential areas in unincorporated Gleneagle and Black Forest, a few miles away.

The study found that all three concerts roughly complied with the city’s requirements for limiting maximum noise levels. In the community as a whole, however, the performances were clearly audible in many neighborhoods and would have been too loud for residential areas if the amphitheater had not received a noise abatement permit.

The city had commissioned a third-party study to verify sound level measurements from VENU, the Colorado Springs-based entertainment and hospitality company that built and developed the amphitheater, as well as residents who complained about the pollution sound.

VENU, formerly known as Notes Live, developed the amphitheater with the goal of attracting big-name concerts and musical groups to a picturesque outdoor setting that would rival Red Rocks and Fiddler’s Green near Denver.


New noise mitigation measures considered at Ford Amphitheater

“We needed to make sure that everything we received from the amphitheater was reviewed by professionals and that we weren’t just taking their word for it,” city spokeswoman Vanessa Zink said.

None of the measured concerts exceeded city-set caps for average and maximum sound levels during a five-minute period of the performance, the report said.

Godsmack’s October 17 concert featured two sequences that violated the 125 decibel limit for specific octave frequencies, with the 40 hertz bandwidth measurement exceeding the limit several times. The Hankard report called the increase an “imperceptible increase” and not a systemic violation.

Hankard’s study measured concert volume between 10 and 21 locations north and east of the amphitheater. The study found that a majority of venues could clearly hear at least part of the concert over the three evenings.

How varied the broadcasts were, even over short distances. At Foreigner’s concert on October 2, the concert was barely audible when measured near Voyager Parkway. A few hundred yards further east, at the Bella Springs Apartments, the concert was “distinctly audible” and the music could be heard even more clearly in a nearby neighborhood.

The study says the variation was due to passing traffic that was as loud as or louder than the concert, as well as wind direction and atmospheric conditions. The 50 to 60 decibel range is about the same volume as secondary traffic or normal conversation.

Ford Amphitheater received a noise abatement permit from the city allowing it to exceed the 50 decibel limit in residential areas between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. Permits are issued by the Colorado Springs Police Department Special Events Team.

The majority of external measurements from the three concerts exceeded 50 decibels. Godsmack’s performance exceeded the 50 decibel level in 10 of the 12 locations measured in the study, and Godsmack and Foreigner reached 60 decibels in some locations.

Jerry McLaughlin is president of the Sun Hills Homeowners Association, further north and east of the area measured by the study. McLaughlin said via email that the study clearly showed a sound problem because of the number of locations that would normally constitute noise violations.

McLaughlin said any changes should focus on residents north and northeast of Ford Amphitheater.

“As I attended the open house, I could clearly see that there were many gaps in the amphitheater infrastructure to the north and northeast that would need to be filled,” McLaughlin wrote.

VENU President Bob Mudd said the city’s study was consistent with the company’s internal metrics related to the concert season. The only complaint Mudd had was that the study didn’t show how much louder the concerts were than normal background noise in these areas.

Mudd and the city agreed there was work to be done to continue to bring noise levels under control before shows begin in 2025.

“Music is seen differently than buses, trains, retail and people going up and down the roads. We’ve heard from the public that this concerns them and they want to see what our measures are this offseason,” he said. Mudd said.

VENU is preparing its own noise report which will include measurements from every concert performed this year. Mudd said the report would be released within 10 days. A finalized set of Ford Amphitheater noise mitigation measures will be released early next year.

An overview of potential changes provided by Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s office last week included adjustments to speaker setup and acoustics that could be made quickly. Larger projects, such as extending the Roth Building wall to the north and south, would be done as quickly as the city allows and construction timelines permit, Mudd said.

“Initially we were working on theoretical grounds. Now we are working on a set of 20 broadcasts where we can incorporate actual sound levels into the studies,” Mudd said.