SPRINGFIELD — Levitt AMP (Amplified, Music & Places) concertgoers be forewarned: depending on your commute, you may have to negotiate some street construction around the downtown Y Block for the duration of the 10-week music series.
Fifth Street is down to one lane at Capitol Avenue and Capitol is closed to traffic between Fourth and Fifth streets, though there are some parking spots accessible from Fourth.
The construction, part of the city’s “Streetscape” program, will continue through August, Public Works Director Dave Fuchs told The State Journal-Register recently.
Levitt AMP opens its eighth season in Springfield (including the 2020 COVID season which was wiped out) with Nashville-based Americana and alt-country singer Chloe Kimes and Chaos in Red May 28. The music series continues each Thursday through July 30.
The timing of the project, Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher said, is because of Illinois’ weather climate. Other “Streetscape” work downtown was completed earlier.
Crews are fixing water mains as well as addressing sidewalks to make them universally accessible, Buscher said. One of the benefits of the construction will be a curb cut out similar to what is by Maldaner’s Restaurant and the Merrill Lynch Building at Sixth and Monroe streets, she added.
“All of those things are going on to make downtown useable (and) safer (in addition to) updating it,” Buscher said.
As for the timing, “unfortunately, the only time we can repair the road is when the weather is nice, which is when everything goes on at the same time downtown,” the mayor said.
Jay Shanle, the program director for the music series and executive director of Downtown Springfield, Inc., said the city, Public Works and City Water, Light and Power have all been very responsive “so I’m confident that, should we need to make some changes, we have good partners to assist in making things work.”
While the construction does impose on some of the area Levitt AMP used for food trucks, specifically on Fifth Street, “we are able to pivot by utilizing the Fourth Street for food trucks, too. We did use Fourth Street for food trucks for a few of the concerts last year, so it’s a change that we are familiar with.”
In 2025, more than 16,700 people attended the concerts.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Construction could hamper commute for Levitt AMP music series
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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