Goose Creek Breaks Ground On New Amphitheater

Construction on the Joseph S. Daning Amphitheater is expected to take a little over a year, with a 2024 opening date. (CREDIT: City of Goose Creek)

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. – Goose Creek officials broke ground Tuesday on a new amphitheater that’s expected to open sometime next year.

From concerts to poetry readings, the amphitheater will be a game-changer for Goose Creek and beyond, city officials said.

“This amphitheater is going to redefine what it means to grow up in Goose Creek,” Mayor Greg Habib told dozens of local leaders during the groundbreaking. “‘Meet me at the Daning’ is a phrase that Goose Creek is going to hear a lot … it will be heard today, tomorrow and for decades and decades to come.”

According to a news release, the structure will increase the quality and quantity of performance arts in the city.

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“The concerts, the live performances, the fellowship and fun, the excitement … this is how hometown memories are made,” Mayor Habib said.

The amphitheater will bear the name of former Goose Creek City Councilmember and S.C. House of Representatives member Joe Daning, city officials said.

“I defy anyone to name a truer, more good-hearted, more generous public servant,” Mayor Habib said. “How lucky we are that this man calls Goose Creek his home.”

The amphitheater will be located at the lake behind city hall, beside the city’s recreation complex. It will be built by Trident Construction. The Middleton Group Architects and Baker Engineering LLC are also partners on the project.

City officials said the total cost of the amphitheater is just under $4 million. Rep. Daning played an instrumental role in securing $1.5 million in State funding for the project, the remainder of which is being paid for by ARPA funds.

Rep. Daning has been a member of the S.C. House of Representatives since 2008, and is retiring from that body in Jan. 2023. He was a member of Goose Creek City Council from 1978 to 1986, and again from 1992 to 2008.