Raleigh votes to close street to make room for new downtown amphitheater
A block of South Street will close in downtown Raleigh early next year to make way for a new Red Hat Amphitheater.
The City Council voted Tuesday to close the street between Dawson and McDowell streets as part of a plan to replace the music venue and expand the Raleigh Convention Center.
The vote was unanimous, despite opposition from nearby residents who consider South Street an important connector between downtown and the Boylan Heights neighborhood and Dorothea Dix Park.
City staff didn’t give council members much choice. They said closing South Street was the only way to build a new venue that is comparable in size to the existing one and within the city’s budget of $40 million.
“The closure of South Street is not desirable,” said council member Jane Harrison, whose district includes the street. “But I’m willing to support it today to ensure that Red Hat remains downtown in years to come.”
The vote was met with applause from a room packed with the amphitheater’s supporters, many of whom wore red T-shirts that said some variation of “Save Red Hat.” Many had ties to businesses who say the crowds the amphitheater brings downtown have been a godsend, particularly as the center city recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Downtown resident Matt Coleman said he remembers when downtown essentially shut down after 5 p.m. The amphitheater helped change that, said Coleman, who owns The Davie, a bar on Blount Street.
“Removing this venue would likely result in closure of many businesses like mine that rely on Red Hat to stay afloat,” he told council members. “I cannot think of another concert venue in our city that has as large of a financial impact on its surrounding businesses as Red Hat does.”
Without a venue that seats 6,000 people, as Red Hat does, the city stands to lose out to other cities, said David Brower, executive director of PineCone, a nonprofit that supports traditional music and organizes performances.
“If you vote no and allow the amphitheater to get plowed under, Raleigh’s portion of the live music market will go somewhere else,” Brower told council members. “Tours will continue but they’ll move down the road, and fans and families will build positive music memories in Durham, Cary, Greensboro or Winston.”
Opponents say decision was rushed
The City Council voted a year ago to use money from the county’s hospitality tax to help pay for the new amphitheater. But it wasn’t clear until this spring that building it would require closing South Street.
The Boylan Heights Neighborhood Association voted overwhelmingly last month to ask the city to reconsider and get more public involvement. Joseph Huberman drafted the association’s resolution, which began by saying residents support Red Hat remaining downtown.
Huberman repeated that Tuesday.
“The current amphitheater plans appear to have been made by a group whose only concern was improving the Red Hat Amphitheater and from all outward appearances intentionally avoided input from the surrounding residential communities, input that could have avoided this conflict,” he said.
Michael Motsinger, the association’s president, suggested the city pause the project for a year and do proper planning with “input of the many talented and creative people” in Raleigh who could come up with a first-class downtown amphitheater.
“As a result of the haste, we are faced with settling for a second-class solution, which disrupts neighborhoods and other public works projects,” Motsinger said. “The people of Raleigh deserve better.”
Responding to calls for delay, council member Stormie Forte said there really aren’t any viable options for replacing Red Hat without closing South Street.
“I don’t know that another year is going to make a difference,” Forte said.
Where will South Street traffic go?
With Tuesday’s vote, the city will close South Street and begin building the new amphitheater in the first quarter of next year. The city will use the existing venue next year, with a goal of switching to its replacement in 2026.
The city is still working on how to re-route traffic, pedestrians and cyclists around that section of South Street.
City transportation engineers have come up with a proposed connector just south of the new amphitheater that would allow eastbound drivers to get from Dawson to McDowell. The single-lane connector would end at a new traffic light on McDowell, where drivers would turn left toward the heart of downtown.
The connector needs approval of the N.C. Department of Transportation, which owns Dawson and McDowell, and so far the state has been encouraging, said Kenneth Ritchie of the city’s transportation department. Ritchie said the connector would cost the city $2 million to $3 million and would not be ready before South Street closes.
This story was originally published September 17, 2024 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Raleigh votes to close street to make room for new downtown amphitheater."
