Every summer, fans at Merriweather Post Pavilion lay down their blankets, sing along and sometimes dance to their favorite band under an open sky. For four decades, the amphitheater has featured a diverse group of musical acts from the National Symphony to the Grateful Dead to Britney Spears.
So almost two years ago, when the venue's owner announced plans to enclose the amphitheater and sell it, many fans and residents reacted passionately. And ever since, the controversy has lingered over Columbia, tied up in several drawn-out deliberations.
From recent letter campaigns and speak-outs at public forums, it is clear many residents believe in the importance of the debate over Merriweather. Community leaders have said they believe the future of downtown Columbia is intertwined with that of Merriweather. "It's just too important," said Ian Kennedy, co-leader of advocacy group Save Merriweather. "We'll find a way to save it."
In July 1967, Merriweather opened as the second public building in Columbia. It was planned by architect Frank Gehry, famous for designing the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
It took eight months and $1 million to build the simple pavilion and grounds in Columbia.
The pavilion was designed to be open-sided and surrounded by beech trees. Built to include state-of-the-art acoustics, the amphitheater was intended to be the summer home of the National Symphony, and it was named for one of the group's key patrons, Marjorie Merriweather Post.
Financial problems, however, forced the symphony to leave the pavilion after two seasons, and the pavilion's managers began turning to musical acts that would draw bigger crowds -- bands such as Led Zeppelin and The Who.
Throughout the 1970s, rock 'n' roll was simultaneously celebrated and resented in the community. The rowdy bands brought in much-needed profits, but also violence, drug use and other problems.
The Howard County Council passed a bill in 1972 granting it the authority to veto acts that were likely to draw troublesome crowds. Leon Russell and Rod Stewart found themselves rejected.
But rock and popular music quickly made a comeback as the Nederlander Organization sought money-making acts for Merriweather from 1974 to 1999.
Among other notable performances, the Grateful Dead anniversary concert in 1985 brought in droves of fans, who camped in Symphony Woods, swarmed The Mall in Columbia for food and bathed in a Columbia fountain.
