When The Blue Oval purchased naming rights to the relatively new Ford Amphitheater in the Polaris Pointe development in Colorado Springs, Colorado some time ago, it likely didn’t anticipate that same venue becoming a massively controversial one with local residents, but unfortunately for the automaker, that’s precisely what has happened. Shortly after opening months ago, the Ford Amphitheater was hit with dozens of noise complaints, even though officials claims they haven’t exceeded the preset limits set forth by the city. Regardless, that hasn’t stopped the complaints from rolling in.
According to The Denver Post, residents continue to fight Ford Amphitheater, even though a lawsuit over this matter has now been dismissed not once, but twice. Citizens continue to attend city council meetings, most recently showing pictures of trash around the area and other debris, arguing that its presence is hurting their property values. To help and try to ease this tension, Ford Amphitheater plans to host an open house this weekend in which the public can tour the venue and submit questions ahead of time, while feedback is welcome as well.
Venu – the company that owns and operates Ford Amphitheater – has already agreed to implement some measures to help cut down on noise pollution, including installing higher sound walls, ending shows earlier, and continuing to explore other ways to do so. Regardless, the outfit maintains that its own testing determined that it has not exceeded noise limits set forth by the City of Colorado Springs, and a recent test conducted by the city itself backed up those claims.
In the meantime, a website called Ford Hurts Families aims to tie the automaker itself to these issues – though Ford merely paid for the naming rights – accusing the site of “blasting nearby homes with noise pollution,” claims it backs up with its own third-party testing results. The Northside Neighbors Association followed by filing the aforementioned lawsuit claiming that this permit violates state law.
Comment
Simple fix that has been used by many race tracks – offer the locals free tickets (with a limit).