For 36 summers, music fans have gathered on the grassy rise at Merriweather Post Pavilion, sitting on blankets, singing along with their favorite bands and dancing under the sun and the stars.
The open-sided pavilion surrounded by towering beech trees has brought hundreds of national acts to Columbia as diverse as the National Symphony, Benny Goodman, Janis Joplin, Willie Nelson, Tina Turner, Chicago and Britney Spears.
But soon, that tradition may end.
Pointing to financial losses at the concert hall, the Rouse Co. plans to rebuild or replace the pavilion with an enclosed, year-round venue. The company is seeking to develop the land around the pavilion, including its parking lots.
For its fans, who return year after year to see perennial favorites such as Jimmy Buffett and The Grateful Dead, such changes mean a cherished landmark will never be the same.
"People need to get that [Merriweather] is gone, and it is not coming back," said Justin Carlson, a computer programmer from Columbia who has organized Save Merriweather, a grass-roots effort to save the pavilion. "It is going to be a real loss. It is going to create a vacuum in this region."
The loss of up to 10,000 lawn seats would make the venue significantly smaller. But otherwise, there are no concrete plans or timetable for the changes. Concertgoers and community members are anxious to find out what the future holds for the site.
Merriweather opened in July 1967 as the second public building in Columbia. It was designed by architect Frank Gehry, known for his design of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Gehry also designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, set to open in Los Angeles in the fall.
It took eight months and $1 million to build the simple pavilion and grounds in Columbia.
With top-notch acoustics, the amphitheater was created to be the summer home of the National Symphony, and it was named for one of the group's key patrons, Marjorie Merriweather Post. But after two seasons, financial problems forced the symphony to end its relationship with the pavilion.
The venue started seeking groups that would draw crowds, moving toward rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and The Who. In 1971, two events out of 37 were classical, and the venue was still losing money.
During the next decade, Columbia developed a love-hate relationship with rock 'n' roll at Merriweather. Popular rock bands were the only ones that brought in enough money for the venue to make a profit. But residents and community leaders were not happy with violent incidents, drug use and other problems.
