Partial Spirit Square demolition plans move forward, leaving some arts groups in limbo
Several Charlotte arts groups will soon be without a home for nearly three years as the county moves forward with a plan to demolish much of Spirit Square to make way for new development.
Last week, in a 5-4 vote, Mecklenburg County Commissioners decided to spend $39.5 million to raze the Spirit Square complex, except for the historic McGlohon Theater and the Duke Energy Theater, which will undergo renovations.
Demolition of the Main Library and Spirit Square is slated to start in the fall of 2021, county spokeswoman Pamela Escobar said, and the renovated facilities are expected to open in the spring of 2024.
That leaves organizations like Studio 345, an after-school arts program for Charlotte-Mecklenburg high school students, in the lurch.
Angela Grauel, program director for Studio 345, said it will be losing four permanent studios in Spirit Square, where they’ve been located for eight years.
She said she hasn’t heard anything yet from the county. But once she does, the group will have a year to leave the space.
“There’s going to be a huge cost for us to relocate,” she said. “They’ve been saying for years it could happen, but nobody knew exactly when.”
The county says about 60% of the 12,000 square feet of meeting space in Spirit Square will be replaced or retained with space in the refurbished Duke Energy Theater and the new main library next door.
Escobar said arts groups can also consider meeting space in branch libraries and recreation centers if there isn’t room on the site.
The plans
Tearing down Spirit Square is part of a broader overhaul of 7th and Tryon streets, seen as a major part of the largest remaining development opportunity uptown.
Last week, the county also approved a plan to sell land on the Spirit Square site and elsewhere to a private developer for $600 million to build retail, homes, offices and parking. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library is also building a $100 million new main branch next to the site, which is expected to open in 2024.
The Spirit Square plan calls for a pedestrian path from Tryon Street to a public plaza in the middle of the block. The county will make “significant renovations” to all floors of the Duke Energy Theater, one of the few black-box theaters in the area.
The renovated theater will also contain new rehearsal and meeting space.
McGlohon, the other theater that will be preserved, is uptown’s only historic theater, according to Blumenthal Performing Arts. Built in 1909, it was once the First Baptist Church sanctuary but was restored and reopened in 1980 as a theater.
Both theaters will share lobby space with the new library, and will have new exits onto the pedestrian plaza.
The $39.5 million price tag for the demolition and improvements is an increase of about $10 million from previous proposals for the project, Mark Hahn, director of Asset and Facility Management for the county said at last week’s meeting. That’s largely due to an increase in the cost of labor and materials, he said, and previous estimates did not include cost escalation over the three years the project will take.
“This has been a long journey for this community,” said commissioner Vilma Leake, who supported the project.
But four commissioners unsuccessfully pushed for a more expensive option in which the county would have replaced all theater support spaces being demolished, built a new black-box theater and created a stage that opens up onto the plaza.
“I really hate this project and how it demolishes so much history,” said commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell.
‘Irreplaceable’ spaces
Blumenthal Performing Arts, which manages Spirit Square, supports the county’s plan, said CEO Tom Gabbard.
He said the group has been having discussions since 2008 about maintaining performance and support spaces while encouraging commercial development on the site. Arts groups will benefit in the long-run from improved spaces in the project, according to Gabbard.
He said his organization is still working out plans to accommodate the need for performance and rehearsal space during the renovations.
“We decided not to spend a lot of time looking at what the interim arrangements would be until we really knew this was happening and what the timeline would be,” he said.
Anne Lambert, artistic director of theater company Charlotte’s Off-Broadway, which performs at Duke Energy Theater, is concerned that the development could make it too expensive for her group to use the space.
“How can we afford the space once it’s renovated? Will it be priced out of the smaller groups’ access?” she asked.
Currently, most organizations use the space for free because the county, the Arts and Science Council and the Blumenthal provide financial support, Gabbard said. While he said he is hopeful they will be able to continue providing free rent, they haven’t determined that yet since the project is years away from being complete.
Lambert said the rent waiver is the only way small arts groups like hers can afford to produce in the space.
John Quillin, managing artistic director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte, which also holds performances in Duke Energy Theater, said he’s excited for the revamped theater. But it will be difficult for his choir during the renovations.
“Having Duke come back even better than it is, it’s going to be tremendous,” he said. “It’s just going to be hard in the three years that they’re gone.”
Quillin also said he is glad the Duke Energy Theater and McGlohon Theater will remain at Spirit Square.
“I think it’s a shame to lose the additional places, the office spaces and classroom spaces that they’re going to lose,” he said. “I think we can find those other spaces in the community. But the performance spaces, those are irreplaceable.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Partial Spirit Square demolition plans move forward, leaving some arts groups in limbo."
