![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weber_dubois22Despite my residency here in Howard Country, there are a lot of things the
community has to offer that I’ve yet to experience and chief among them is the
Merriweather Post Pavilion, The outdoor amphitheater opened to the public in the 1967
and has served as the county’s “defining characteristic” that’s brought so many people
from all walks of life to their doors. I’m not terribly big on keeping up with current
events, but when I heard that the Rouse Company filled for a petition to add more than
21,000 residential units to a crescent of 50 or 60 some arches behind the Symphony
Woods, I was shocked. For starters, I wasn’t even aware the Merriweather was doing so
badly that the Rouse Company had decided to forgo all attempts to resurrect it and simply
sell it off for greener pastures. A website called “Save Merriweather”, run by Ian
Kennedy (an employee at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources) and Justin
Carlson, revealed more about the grassroots campaign of the same name. Working as a
non-profit organization, Save Merriweather’s campaign focus is solely the preservation
of the Pavilion and the halt development of Rouse Co.’s residential plans for the land.
on their website, you can send donations to their organization and chat with likeminded
people down with the cause on the website forum.
Kennedy and Carlson have gone has far as creating flyers and t-shirts to help spread the
word about the Pavilion’s “uncertain fate”, they’ve worked diligently in the effort to
convince the Howard County Council and the Zoning Board to keeping Merriweather as
is; an open house for all artists to utilize.
Despite what the Rouse Company would have people believe, the Merriweather’s
offerings do align with the population of Howard County, so their claim that the
community has “matured” beyond the musical fare of the amphitheater is puzzling. There
isn‘t a single soul I know who could claim to have outgrown the desire to see their
favorite bands perform in an open venue such as the Pavilion. Save Merriweather’s
network of support has become broad enough to give Zoning Board sessions pause in the
decision to approve petitions from the Rouse Company and request that the company
looks at the land’s situation in three different scenarios; leaving the land as it is, construct
5% of the units into affordable housing (something, Rouse Co. wishes to do), or increase
the affordability of the units to 10%. “Merriweather is one of the symbols of Columbia, a
defining characteristic that makes our planned community unique”, there are people who
would “sell their souls” to have an amphitheater like this one and Howard County is
trying to tear it down under the pretense that doesn’t make the desired revenue they want.
There’s word that they want to keep it open for the public for at least one more year, but
the Rouse Company is unwilling to sell it to anyone unless they agree to make it an
enclosed hall suitable for year round events.
If this happens, parking space will decrease more than it already has and bigger acts will
ultimately migrate to Pavilions like Wolf Trap and the Nissan Pavilion in Northern
Virginia. Maryland will be left without a major amphitheater if anyone agrees to Rouse
Co.’s terms and that’s something no one wants to see happen, not before one gets to
experience the Pavilion in the same way everyone else has. There are a lot of
fantastic tales about experiences had at the Merriweather, the once-in-a-lifetime
performances folk got to see from popular artists like The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Jonny
Cash and The Grateful Dead. While the attendance and number of performance rates may
not be as strong as they used to be, there isn’t anything about the Merriweather that states
it’ll always be that way. One suggestion is to simply increase the prices of the tickets,
perhaps even charge for parking in certain areas or even decrease the prices of the
merchandise sold for bands if the commission allows it.
Merriweather manager, Jean Parker declares that “they will run the Pavilion as they
always have until their told otherwise”, as Rouse, in the end, has the final say in the
regards to the Pavilion’s fate.
The chance that it’ll return to form, especially with all the support the community has
been showing through “Save Merriweather”, is simply too great to even think about
closing it off to bigger acts let alone for residential development or box stores. When
Rouse says that the Merriweather is an “outdated, money losing operation in decline”, it’s
hard not to believe that they simply want rid of the place as opposed to truly seeing
it as a revenue-killing machine. Regardless of how much money the amphitheater truly
makes or loses, Rouse sees more profit in developing the land for other purposes.
community has to offer that I’ve yet to experience and chief among them is the
Merriweather Post Pavilion, The outdoor amphitheater opened to the public in the 1967
and has served as the county’s “defining characteristic” that’s brought so many people
from all walks of life to their doors. I’m not terribly big on keeping up with current
events, but when I heard that the Rouse Company filled for a petition to add more than
21,000 residential units to a crescent of 50 or 60 some arches behind the Symphony
Woods, I was shocked. For starters, I wasn’t even aware the Merriweather was doing so
badly that the Rouse Company had decided to forgo all attempts to resurrect it and simply
sell it off for greener pastures. A website called “Save Merriweather”, run by Ian
Kennedy (an employee at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources) and Justin
Carlson, revealed more about the grassroots campaign of the same name. Working as a
non-profit organization, Save Merriweather’s campaign focus is solely the preservation
of the Pavilion and the halt development of Rouse Co.’s residential plans for the land.
on their website, you can send donations to their organization and chat with likeminded
people down with the cause on the website forum.
Kennedy and Carlson have gone has far as creating flyers and t-shirts to help spread the
word about the Pavilion’s “uncertain fate”, they’ve worked diligently in the effort to
convince the Howard County Council and the Zoning Board to keeping Merriweather as
is; an open house for all artists to utilize.
Despite what the Rouse Company would have people believe, the Merriweather’s
offerings do align with the population of Howard County, so their claim that the
community has “matured” beyond the musical fare of the amphitheater is puzzling. There
isn‘t a single soul I know who could claim to have outgrown the desire to see their
favorite bands perform in an open venue such as the Pavilion. Save Merriweather’s
network of support has become broad enough to give Zoning Board sessions pause in the
decision to approve petitions from the Rouse Company and request that the company
looks at the land’s situation in three different scenarios; leaving the land as it is, construct
5% of the units into affordable housing (something, Rouse Co. wishes to do), or increase
the affordability of the units to 10%. “Merriweather is one of the symbols of Columbia, a
defining characteristic that makes our planned community unique”, there are people who
would “sell their souls” to have an amphitheater like this one and Howard County is
trying to tear it down under the pretense that doesn’t make the desired revenue they want.
There’s word that they want to keep it open for the public for at least one more year, but
the Rouse Company is unwilling to sell it to anyone unless they agree to make it an
enclosed hall suitable for year round events.
If this happens, parking space will decrease more than it already has and bigger acts will
ultimately migrate to Pavilions like Wolf Trap and the Nissan Pavilion in Northern
Virginia. Maryland will be left without a major amphitheater if anyone agrees to Rouse
Co.’s terms and that’s something no one wants to see happen, not before one gets to
experience the Pavilion in the same way everyone else has. There are a lot of
fantastic tales about experiences had at the Merriweather, the once-in-a-lifetime
performances folk got to see from popular artists like The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Jonny
Cash and The Grateful Dead. While the attendance and number of performance rates may
not be as strong as they used to be, there isn’t anything about the Merriweather that states
it’ll always be that way. One suggestion is to simply increase the prices of the tickets,
perhaps even charge for parking in certain areas or even decrease the prices of the
merchandise sold for bands if the commission allows it.
Merriweather manager, Jean Parker declares that “they will run the Pavilion as they
always have until their told otherwise”, as Rouse, in the end, has the final say in the
regards to the Pavilion’s fate.
The chance that it’ll return to form, especially with all the support the community has
been showing through “Save Merriweather”, is simply too great to even think about
closing it off to bigger acts let alone for residential development or box stores. When
Rouse says that the Merriweather is an “outdated, money losing operation in decline”, it’s
hard not to believe that they simply want rid of the place as opposed to truly seeing
it as a revenue-killing machine. Regardless of how much money the amphitheater truly
makes or loses, Rouse sees more profit in developing the land for other purposes.
