Carter Barron Amphitheater in Rock Creek Park was a beacon for entertainment for decades until it closed in 2017 due to its deteriorating condition. Now, there’s new hope it can come back.
Beginning in the summer of 1950, Carter Barron provided a stage for musical talents including Ella Fitzgerald, Bruce Springsteen, Smokey Robinson, Roberta Flack, the National Symphony Orchestra and the godfather of go-go, Chuck Brown.
“It was just electric. That's all I could say,” said Keith Kilgo, a founding member of the Blackbyrds, who performed their signature song “Rock Creek Park” on the Carter Barron stage. “I mean, it was electric. And so, when we sang and performed that at Carter Barron, it's like the anthem for that whole vibe.”
Over the years, community members and the National Park Service have cared for the historic venue, but plans to bring it back always hit roadblocks – mostly with funding.
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“It’s a really special place,” said Pavan Khoobchandani, chair of Rock Creek Conservancy’s board of directors. “Anybody that has ever spent any time in there knows that.”
The conservancy, the nonprofit partner of the park, has raised almost $2 million toward concept and design and released an artist’s rendering of what the new stage could look like.
“It's very beautiful,” Khoobchandani said. “The new theater has a roof over the stage.”
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“The intent and sort of original design of the amphitheater is staying,” he said.
The Rock Creek Conservancy needs to raise another $3 million for design work. Any actual construction on a new stage would require federal funding.
“For the next generation to be able to take advantage of having this in the middle of Washington, D.C., it's, it's something that absolutely needs to happen,” Khoobchandani said. “So, that's why we're working so hard for it.”
The National Park Service declined to comment on the future of Carter Barron.
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