Hey there personal news service @jseattle . What's up with black hole sun? pic.twitter.com/esTgLQgSFK

— Hayes Haugen (@hayeshaugen) March 9, 2021

The Volunteer Park plaza home to the Black Sun sculpture is getting some work this week but the big construction project for the northern Capitol Hill green space will start next week.

A city representative tells CHS that the area around Isamu Noguchi’s sculpture was blocked off this week for an Office of Arts and Culture project to re-grout the stone surfaces of the surrounding plaza.

Next week, a much larger project begins. Crews will be in the park starting Monday to demolish the park’s old amphitheater as construction begins on the $3,000,000 replacement project that will create a new outdoor performance facility with a roof, storage and green room space, all-gender bathrooms, upgraded electrical access, and “a resilient floor that will even accommodate dance performances.”

The new amphitheater will replace the current, crumbling concrete and brick structure, which has hosted performances, rallies, and events for five decades.

Despite a protested bid adding to delays around the project, officials had been hoping for an end of summer debut of the new amphitheater.

“By next summer, the park will have a new venue with a roof, new restrooms, and many amenities for performers and performances,” the Volunteer Park Trust wrote in its announcement on the impending start of construction. “Funded by hundreds of donations from community members and public funding for arts and recreation projects, the new amphitheater is this generation’s contribution to the historic and beloved park.”

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