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Performance center steps onstage again

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

(Updated 11:09 am)

By Donald W. Patterson and
Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane
Staff Writers

GREENSBORO — A cross section of the city’s leaders has mounted a new effort to build a performing arts center downtown.

At least four previous efforts for such a project produced studies but little else. Now those involved in the current endeavor — foundation and business leaders and arts advocates — are determined to plan, design, fund and build a structure within this decade.

“What is different this time is that we have everybody on board and everybody is looking at downtown as the place,” said Lisa Crawford, president and CEO of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. “I think there are enough people in the community with leadership roles that want to see it happen.”

The latest effort got a boost Tuesday when a New York consultant recommended that local leaders begin a five-year planning process to create a performing arts center. Under that time frame, a center would not open before 2017.

The recommendation is one of six coming out of the Downtown Consolidated Plan, a city-county effort designed to spur economic development in the center city.

“We are going to have to determine the best type of facility to meet the community’s needs,” said Ed Wolverton, president and CEO of Downtown Greensboro Inc. “That will help lead us to the cost.”

The report, presented by Candace Damon, a partner with HR&A Advisors, said “demand exists for a large format venue, with 2,800 to 3,600 seats, to attract high-profile music and theater events.”

It added that “touring shows evaluate locations based on potential gross revenue assuming sold out shows. Therefore, a larger theater will be more effective in competing for acts and will have greater revenue potential.”

A new venue in Greensboro would compete with the Durham Performing Arts Center, a 2,800-seat center that opened in 2008, and the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, which has six performance spaces and seats 2,100 in the largest of those.

The Durham center cost $48 million, draws more than 300,000 visitors a year and generates $11 million in economic activity; the one in Charlotte attracts more than 600,000 people and produces $45 million in economic activity.

Greensboro leaders say it’s time the city has a first-rate downtown performance space of its own.

“From a personal perspective, it is something that needs to happen and needed to happen for a long time,” said Walker Sanders, president of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.

The report lays out a timeline for bringing the center to fruition. One of the major steps includes fundraising. It said almost all performance centers draw from a mix of public, private and philanthropic sources.

The report also lists potential sites, including city-owned properties on Eugene and Lee streets and Washington and Eugene streets, and Guilford County Schools-owned sites on Washington between Spring and Edgeworth streets.

But Keith Holliday, president and CEO of the Carolina Theatre at 310 S. Greene St., has his own location in mind.

Holliday proposes a renovation to expand the historic theater from 1,075 to 1,500 or 1,600 seats, and adding a second building next door.

“I think that 1,500 to 1,600 seats would satisfy a majority of the needs for a performing arts center in the region and do it in the much more charming place of a historic theater,” Holliday said.

Among existing venues in Greensboro, the city-owned War Memorial Auditorium offers 2,400 seats. But it needs major renovations.

Voters in 2006 and 2008 rejected bond referenda to improve the aging auditorium.

Matt Brown, managing director of the Greensboro Coliseum complex, which includes the auditorium, said the city needs a first-rate performing arts center.

“One is long overdue,” Brown said. “If it is the consensus of the community leaders and the public feels it would be better ... to be used as a catalyst in our downtown area, then I am all for it.”

Leaders pushing the idea of a performance center downtown have reportedly talked to Brown about managing it. Asked to comment on that possibility, he declined.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com

Contact Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane at 373-5204 or dawn.kane@news-record.com

Accompanying Photos

Michael McQueen

Photo Caption: The Greensboro skyline.

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Aeolius

September 29, 2010 - 7:18 am EDT

Where are all of these people going to park? How will traffic me managed? It seems to me that, for events of that size, we already have a Coliseum. Why waste money on a redundant facility? Better to spend the money on something we don't already have. Put an IMAX theater downtown.

Panacea

September 29, 2010 - 8:46 am EDT

The Coliseum is totally inappropriate for a performing arts center. The acoustics are all wrong, and there is no backstage area It would not be a redundant facility.

Parking WILL be an issue, but they haven't even picked a site yet. Planning for parking is part of the planning process.

An IMAX theater is a private enterprise. Talk to the local movie houses if you want them to build one.

And we don't already have a performing arts center.

Aeolius

September 29, 2010 - 8:58 am EDT

Excellent point about the acoustics. I had not considered that.

casper

September 29, 2010 - 9:08 am EDT

Yeah, one more albatross around the Taxpayers neck should just about do the trick. With the Coliseum, Aquatic center and this money pit, it will pretty much guarantee people will not buy property in Greensboro because of the ridiculous tax rate. Liberalism is truly a mental disorder.

Whitley

September 29, 2010 - 9:41 am EDT

Yeah, look how badly it worked out for those idiots in Charlotte and Durham. The last thing taxpayers want is economic vibrancy and growth.

casper

September 29, 2010 - 10:12 am EDT

You have a link to provide that says the Taxpayers aren't on the hook in Durham and Charlotte? I didn't think so.........

Whitley

September 29, 2010 - 10:31 am EDT

Let's see. The centers are bringing in $11M and $45M each year. As many, perhaps most, of the folks coming to performances are from outside the city limits, those sales, use, and occupancy taxes (not to mention parking revenue, rent, etc.) supplement municipal revenues but not on the backs of the municipal taxpayers. Of course, there are other benefits to the taxpayers as well. The city becomes more attractive to businesses seeking to locate or relocate facilities. The area around the center attracts more business. Etc, etc.

Panacea

September 29, 2010 - 12:04 pm EDT

You're making assumptions, not providing facts.

Economic impact is one thing, but if the city can't cover the costs, the project is a money loser and a drain on taxpayer resources.

I disagree with casper that this project is an albatross from the start . . . but it could very well become one if enough private money is not raised (as with the GAC). The article does not provide enough information to answer important questions of what happens if the project fails. Who's on the hook? How much could it cost the city? Are similar projects in other cities able to bring in enough money TO THE CENTER (not "economic impact") to justify taxpayer investment.

I'd like to see the N&R do more research and write another article on this.

nclawkid

September 29, 2010 - 3:06 pm EDT

The city of Durham earned a profit of $1.2 million for the first two years DPAC has been open.

citywatcher

September 29, 2010 - 8:28 am EDT

haha Matt Brown could be moving downtown!!!

Parking should not be an issue. I do know one of the primary sites being looked at is the triangular piece of property that borders Elm, Lindsay and Bellemeade. The Bellemeade parking deck is right across the street. If it is built in the Weaver site, the Church street deck is across the street. Also Keep in mind, the ballpark holds up to 8,000 people and there hasn't been any major issue with parking despite the fact there isn't much parking around the ballpark. Honestly I think they should have been planning this 5 years ago....but they were just so set on renovating War Memorial Auditorium. I don't really care for the idea of using the Carolina theater and adding another building next to it. We would limit ourselves because we would have a smaller venue and would not be able to attract a lot of the national traveling shows and compete with Durham and Charlotte. We need to think much bigger than that. Also I'm tired of seeing historic themed projects being built downtown. We need a new fresh, sleek contemporary performance arts center. We don't have not one building downtown that has an ultra sleek design. I think that would create more excitement than some large brick building designed to look like it was built in 1910.

citywatcher

September 29, 2010 - 8:38 am EDT

I also think this performance arts center would have a greater economic impact on downtown than the ballpark because the venue would attract people from all over the Triad and even beyond depending on the shows. That attracts visitors to downtown and it should help fill up those hotel rooms at the future 10-story Wyndham Hotel. The more attractions we have downtown, the more desirable downtown becomes for people looking for a place in Greensboro to stay over night or longer. But yeah the retro thing is getting old. Lets build something sleek and modern, something that could win architectural awards and attract a lot of attention. The center should be built on the north end of downtown near the cultural district and where all the other modern buildings are located.

casper

September 29, 2010 - 9:20 am EDT

As Triad Stage and Carolina Theatre continue to bleed money, why would anyone think a bigger venue is the answer? I guess its the same mentality as the new downtown hotel, even though we already had a luxury hotel failing in the downtown, a newer and bigger one will fix that. If this was such a grand idea, private industry would build it, we all know thats not happening.

citywatcher

September 29, 2010 - 9:26 am EDT

Casper a larger venue attracts different kinds of shows than smaller venues like Triad Stage. Triad Stage and the Carolina Theater can't attract broadway productions, which is currently taking place at the outdated War Memorial Auditorium. Those two facilities are too small. Its like comparing apples with oranges. A new larger venue will also attract events currently not coming to Greensboro

Whitley

September 29, 2010 - 9:56 am EDT

Triad Stage and the Cultural Arts Center are largely responsible for the revitalization of downtown. Its the same free enterprise concept as an anchor tenant at a shopping center. There is a reason why the shopping center owner is willing to take a loss on the rent to the anchor tenant, i.e., the presence of the anchor tenant draws in businesses to the other spaces. In this way, the loss taken on the anchor is more than recouped. That's good business -- for downtown, for taxpayers, for everyone.

casper

September 29, 2010 - 10:23 am EDT

Wow, I didn't realize creating a bar district on Elm Strret was the way forward to economic prosperity. Which 'Anchor Tenant" is the one that we decided to lose money on so we could find all the wealth, was it the N-Club, Club Much, The Venue? Or maybe its the dark storefronts and revolving door of failed businesses in the downtown that has future prosperity written all over it. Possibly, its having the majority of our police force down there every weekend to protect the citizens fron the thugs and drunks that makes this a monetary windfall.
I am finally starting to understand............

Panacea

September 29, 2010 - 8:51 am EDT

The idea has potential, and the possibility of paying itself off. I'd like to see more numbers to know if the Durham or Charlotte facilities operate in the black or in the red. If in the red, the economic activity may not be justified by the cost.

It is definitively not worth doing if it is all city money.

The Carolina Theatre is a possibility, though we'd be missing an opportunity to start fresh and have facilities designed for modern performances.

I hate the idea of Matt Brown being involved. That's a sure way to turn this project into a money loser.

citywatcher

September 29, 2010 - 9:47 am EDT

It will be interesting to see how much public money will go into it. The original plan called for the downtown performance arts center to be a part of a 15-story high-rise office federal courthouse project on the site surrounded by Bellemeade, Lindsay and Elm. I guess the idea was to have the Federal government pick up much of the tab. But because of the war in Iraq, former president Bush put all federal courthouse projects on hold and Obama hasn't given the green light yet which i'm surprised. Construction jobs put people back to work. But I do believe a lot of it will be privately funded. There are so many organizations on board with this and i'm sure some of the foundations will chip in. Hopefully we will have a more liberal city council by the time this project really starts to get off the ground.

Aeolius

September 29, 2010 - 10:17 am EDT

Attaching Obama and stimulus money to the project will definitely guarantee I will not visit the establishment. But then again I only go downtown when I am forced to do so.

reality101

September 29, 2010 - 9:27 am EDT

Being a downtown business owner, I am confident a center city performance arts venue would have a significant social and economic impact for the city of Greensboro. When the city unveiled the original downtown re-develpment plan that included a performing arts amphitheater, it impressed me more than any other project. Previously, I was in the music industry in another city and have found that Greensboro is a place that has a passion for music, art, theatre and writing. Downtown thrives when events are held ie. Beach Music, First Friday, Fun Fourth, Festival of Lights, numerous home comings. Given this, the location is very important. Possibly the Duke power property near the Children's Museum. Lastly, this is not coming from a tax and spend guy, but I feel very strongly that the center would be economically viable.