Marcus Garvey Park was a well-used neighborhood park with an out-of-date 1969 band shell and amphitheater in disrepair. The old stage limited performance, had poor sight lines, and no shade for the audience in its 1,600 seats. Cooper Robertson developed options to fix these problems and the City Parks Foundation selected a plan for a new stage house with a large multi-purpose room (with changing rooms and toilets for performers).

The design corrects the geometry of the band shell with a wider stage closer to the audience. A roof canopy floating above sidewalls, supported by masts and tension cables, and cable-supported fabric shades make the design open and light. The new audience benches of a recycled plastic now have seat-backs. The amphitheater officially opened to the public in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 2, 2011.