carter barron Alliance

what is the Alliance?

Rock Creek Park is fortunate to house a spectacular, approximately 4,000 seat, outdoor amphitheater that, from 1950 to 2017, brought the Washington DC community together to celebrate the confluence of urban outdoors, wilderness, and the performing arts, from popular music to Shakespeare. Unfortunately, the amphitheater has lain dormant and unused for the past five years due to deferred maintenance. It is a great loss to the community and the nation that this jewel in America’s capital continues to sit empty.

The Carter Barron Alliance is a network of arts, parks, historic preservation, philanthropic, and community groups that are working together to support the timely, complete revitalization of the Carter Barron Amphitheater.

Join the alliance.

Add your voice to the alliance - all lovers of the Carter Barron are welcome! Alliance members will receive regular updates about the Carter Barron.

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why revitalize the amphitheater?

The amphitheater’s revitalization would renew the spirit of preservation and inclusion with which it was created. It is time to bring this facility, which for so long served as an affordable, beautiful, and welcoming cultural space, into the 21st century.

The Carter Barron Amphitheater first opened as part of the 150th celebration of the District as our nation’s capital. After a few years of performances of Faith of our Fathers, a musical that celebrated the nation’s founding, the venue began to host performers from a wide range of genres. Acts have included Diana Ross, Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen and even the Ice Capades. From its early days as one of the few racially integrated facilities in the District, and later through its accessible and diverse programming, the amphitheater exemplified what Rock Creek Park does now – it offered a place where individuals of all backgrounds could come together around a shared appreciation of art and nature

As part of the Summer in the Parks program, a centerpiece effort following the 1960s race riots to invite more diverse young people into our nation’s national parks, the Carter Barron served, in some ways, as the District’s version of the events depicted in the current film about music and culture in New York, Summer of Soul.

The reopened amphitheater will provide an introduction to nature, Rock Creek Park, and the National Park Service for a diverse audience of all ages. It is a magical setting that recognizes the significance of our nation’s parks, while also promoting and expanding our nation’s cultural heritage.

experiencing art under the stars

The National Park Service operates with a dual mission: to conserve park resources and to provide for their use and enjoyment. The Carter Barron Alliance asks that the amphitheater be restored so that it can be fully operational in a manner that is safe, enjoyable, and equitable.

The vision for an outdoor theater in Rock Creek Park was originally laid out by a 1918 report by the Olmsted Brothers which set aside the Brightwood Plateau for more active recreation. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr visited the site in 1943 and expressed approval for the plans and location. Its architecture truly unites the past and present: NPS architect William Haussman’s design provided a style that influenced later Mission 66 works by blending “ideas of the modern movement with the National Park Service’s traditional rustic aesthetic.”

Learn more about the history of this space on the National Park Service website.

our Vision

The Carter Barron Amphitheater originally opened to celebrate the District’s 150th anniversary as the nation’s capital. It is time for diverse and affordable programming to return to this unique space. Let’s reopen the Carter Barron for America’s 250th birthday in 2026.

Major renovations to bring the space into the 21st century would promote inclusive access through improved accessibility (compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act) and upgrades to core systems such as plumbing and electrical will provide a much needed foundation for a strong public-private partnership which would allow the space to operate nimbly and sustainably.

The Conservancy was pleased to fund and provide a community engagement study to Rock Creek Park for the Carter Barron Amphitheater in 2019. This study has been used as an input to Rock Creek Park’s business planning process for the amphitheater. The recently completed business plan charts a path forward for a public-private partnership which would shift operating and maintenance costs from the National Park Service to a private partner.

In the summer of 2022, NPS restarted the schematic design process, thanks to funds made available by the National Park Service and philanthropic support from the National Park Foundation and Rock Creek Conservancy.

Progress to date

Fall 2024: Engineers visit the amphitheater to inspect systems.

This page was last updated in November 2024.

Interested in learning more about the History and Future of the Carter Barron Amphitheater?

Want to learn about the history of jazz at the carter barron?

Watch our Race, History, and Rock Creek series program:

get involved

Your financial support will make the essential work of the Carter Barron Alliance possible. Please use the secure online donation form below, or reach out to Jeanne Braha at jbraha@rockcreekconservancy.org if you are interested in making a signature gift.

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JOIN THE ALLIANCE

This project has been funded in part by a grant from the Dorothea de Schweinitz Fund for the District of Columbia of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.