LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET)— Lynchburg city leaders are expressing their concerns over a possible danger at the new Riverfront Park Amphitheater project.
City Councilmen Jeff Helgeson and Marty Misjuns both took to Facebook to express their hesitation about the project, saying it’s at risk for major flooding.
Helgeson said city leaders canceled the International Festival ‘out of an abundance of caution,’ and he thinks they should’ve done the same for the amphitheater project.
City government lots of times uses ‘out of the abundance of caution,'” he said. “I wish they would use that same abundance of caution before they spent eight million dollars on an amphitheater in a floodplain.”
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Riverfront Park is in a floodplain.
Clay Simmons, Lynchburg’s Deputy Director of Public Works said the park does have a risk for floods, but they’ve included flood mitigation in their design.
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They’re planning to implement flood-resistant materials in the restroom facility and a heightened stage.
It is set high enough that any of the critical infrastructure, so all of the electrical works, all of that is going to be above that hundred year floodplain,” Simmons said.
Simmons said the last time the park flooded was 1985, but Helgeson said that’s exactly why it’s too risky of a project for taxpayer money.
We saw that it was not just a floodplain theory. It was actually 13 feet under water.” Helgeson said. “This isn’t a good use of taxpayer resources. We should’ve given it back to our taxpayers, rather than putting it in a floodplain.”
However, councilman Sterling Wilder disagrees. He said he trusts the city planners’ efforts to mitigate the risks and calls it a needed investment for the city.
“It is so important to have that investment to keep our city thriving, and to keep our city going,” Wilder said.
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Wilder said a lot of downtown Lynchburg is at risk for flooding, but this project will do big things for the city.
Those kind of amenities in our community is what draws people to Lynchburg. To want to come live work and play in this city,” he said.
Simmons said they’re doing what’s necessary to reduce any possible damage.
“It’s really a known condition, a known risk factor, and we feel like we took all that into account,” he said.
Mayor Stephanie Reed also provided a statement to ABC13, commenting on the flood risk for the project.
“Before voting on the amphitheater, we discussed with our public works department the design for this project. The location of the amphitheater was considered in the design, and I’ll be so excited when the amphitheater is completed so that all of the families in our city, and the region, will be able to enjoy what it has to offer,” she said.
