Peoria accepts $11 million Hanks Foundation gift for riverfront amphitheater

Peoria City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an $11,000,000 donation agreement with the Hanks Foundation to design and build the D. Hanks Amphitheater at Riverfront Park.

The council vote followed a presentation from the Hanks Foundation’s design and engineering team and a legal overview from Corporation Counsel Hayes explaining that the site — acquired in part with Land and Water Conservation Fund support — will require design approvals from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the National Park Service before construction can proceed.

The agreement gives the donor flexibility to propose the design and construction professionals but makes final selection and any future changes subject to council approval. "The donor would fund all the design and construction," Hayes said, adding that staff expects an approval process with the park-service partners and that the city would contract directly with the chosen firms so the completed facility is owned and operated by the city.

Architects and engineers from Terra Engineering and Epstein presented concept renderings showing a stage oriented toward the river and Murray Baker Bridge; designers highlighted considerations for a floodplain location and a minimal ground‑contact structural approach. Kevin Graham of Terra said the proposed site covers roughly "about 5 to 6 acres" along the riverfront and that the design work will consider site remediation and stormwater needs. Patrick Corrado of Epstein described a stage with a minimum 40-by-60-foot footprint and an exterior facade that could host scannable "memory panels" for rotating community content.

Council members asked about ticket revenue use and oversight; staff said the agreement includes a ticket-revenue-sharing provision and that the city and the donor will establish monitoring and audit mechanisms. The agreement also includes a nondiscrimination clause and a mechanism for the Hanks Foundation and the city to approve design and construction draws. Hayes said the city is not committing municipal construction funds beyond site remediation obligations.

Mayor Rita Ali and councilmembers praised the gift and the conceptual design. The council also voted to receive and file the presentation from the design team. According to the agreement and staff comments, the project will proceed through preliminary design, Hanks Foundation review, and then IDNR and National Park Service approvals before final construction contracts and draws are executed.