Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods is a large central park in downtown Columbia, Maryland. The park includes the Chrysalis, a 2016 amphitheater with lawn seating. The Chrysalis has hosted musical performances, ballet, plays, Maker Faire, and numerous community events.
In 2013, former Rouse Company employee Michael McCall proposed county executive-backed plans to convert the wooded land into a destination park. McCall's company, Strategic Leisure, first proposed a $50 million publicly funded six-story parking garage at the Toby's Dinner Theatre location; later proposals included a 39-acre arts park with features such as an outdoor amphitheater called the Chrysalis, a 300-foot-long floating picnic table, and an 800-foot-long tube called the Caterpillar.[1] The new project was named the "Inner Arbor", a spin on another Rouse development, Baltimore's "Inner Harbor".[2] Artist William Cochran, Howard County native, was commissioned for artwork that includes horns up to 28 feet tall.[3]
The Chrysalis opened for its inaugural season in 2017.[4]
