Goudy Park Amphitheatre ribbon-cutting ceremony

Wayne Mayor John Rhaesa cuts the ribbon to officially open the new Goudy Park Amphitheatre, joined by members of the Wayne City Council, city administration, and county, state and federal officials. The celebration marked an exciting new chapter for Goudy Park and a major investment in the heart of the Wayne community. Photo by Craig Hebert

By Sarah Shurge – On Wednesday, July 29th, at 5 p.m. a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at Goudy Park for the all-new amphitheater!
The original amphitheater at Goudy Park was built in 1992. It started deteriorating around 2014. The DPW patched it together for about seven years until it was finally deemed unsafe and fenced off.
During 2021 and 2022, Wayne’s administration pursued grant opportunities to financially afford to replace the amphitheater. Thanks to tremendous support from our federal, state, county and local partners, Wayne secured approximately $1.3 million to make this project possible.
Then in 2023, engineers discovered an abandoned underground water reservoir beneath the site that was collapsing. The remediation costs were estimated at nearly $2 million.
The project came to a halt. Until Diane Webb came into the picture.
In January 2024, Webb became Wayne’s new City Manager and she immediately made the amphitheater project a priority.
Webb negotiated extensions to preserve Wayne’s grant funding, worked to release the City from the original design-build contract, bid the underground remediation project, hired Hennessey Engineers, and saved the City of Wayne approximately $1.6 million on the remediation work and an additional $200,000 on the redesign and construction of the amphitheater.

Atomic Radio takes the stage for the first concert at the new Goudy Park Amphitheatre, kicking off a new era of live music and community gatherings in the heart of downtown Wayne. Photo by Craig Hebert

“On behalf of the City Council and the residents of Wayne, thank you for your outstanding leadership,” said Wayne Mayor John Rhaesa to City Manager Webb at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Mayor Rhaesa also thanked Hennessey Engineers, our contractors, the DDA, the DPW, our city employees, and every person who worked behind the scenes to make this project a reality.
“I want to thank our funding partners whose confidence in the City of Wayne made this investment possible,” said Mayor Rhaesa. “Your support helped transform a vision into reality, and our community will benefit for generations.”
This project was made possible through the generous contributions of the HUD (550k) the MEDC (500K), County ($250K WC ARPA). For Phase One, a special thanks to Rep Tori Leduc for the RAP Grant and the DDA for matching it.
Special thanks to: Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for HUD Grant, to Former State Rep Coleman and State Senator Dayna Polehanki for MEDC Grant, to Jason Middleton (DPW) for transforming the old DPW Pump House to a functional Cafe, and to Chris Cowell in restoring the original Goudy Park Pump House sign for the new Goudy Park Cafe.
Additional thanks to CEO Evans, Commission Chair Bell, Commissioner Haidous and the WC Ec. Dev. Team led by Dave Schieber and Represented by Zavia Ferguson.
Dignitaries attending the ribbon cutting ceremony were: Alfred Brock: Mayor Pro-Tem, Kevin Dowd: Councilman, Deb Wass: Councilwoman, Don Quarles: Councilman, Rabih Darwiche: Councilman, Kathy Lawrence: Councilwoman, Rashida Tlaib: US Congresswoman, Darrin Camilleri: State Senator, Peter Herzberg: State Representative, Assad Turfe: Deputy County Executive, Al Wilson: County Commissioner, Al Haidous: Former Wayne Mayor and County Commissioner, Zavia Ferguson: Wayne County Economic Development, Dave Schrieber: Wayne County Economic Development, and Dan West: Livonia-Westland Chamber President & CEO.
Plaques were handed out at the ribbon cutting ceremony and photos were taken.
“Thank you again to everyone who believed in this project and never stopped working to make today possible,” said Mayor Rhaesa. “The new Goudy Park Amphitheater stands as a symbol of resilience, partnership, and the bright future of our city.”