Inside Uptown's historic theater restoration
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
Foundation For The Carolinas believes it's found all the "big surprises" in its complex, $90 million restoration of the historic Carolina Theatre.
Why it matters: Charlotte has waited over a decade for its long-promised "community living room," but the project's been delayed multiple years as construction crews uncovered critical issues with the century-old building, from old lead paint to contaminated water.
- "When the construction team comes to see me, I always start with, 'What's the surprise of the day?'" Foundation CEO Cathy Bessant told a group of reporters while giving a tour of the building Tuesday.
The latest: Bessant believes they'll have their certification of occupancy in hand by Thanksgiving. The theater will open in 2025.
Flashback: Foundation For The Carolinas first approached the City of Charlotte in 2014 about redeveloping the theater. Bessant jokes now that the nonprofit "overpaid" for the building because of its challenges. (It was $1.)
The intrigue: No one has enjoyed the theater since it shut its doors in 1978, yet it's outlasted much of the change in a growing city often criticized for razing its history.
- In its heyday, the theater hosted acts like Elvis Presley and had a 79-week run of "The Sound of Music."
The big picture: Once reopened, the 950-seat theater will host lectures, town halls, panels, films and cultural events.
- The Foundation still needs to figure out how it will handle programming and work out other details once construction ends. That includes everything from employee training to preparing concessions.
Fun fact: A ghost named Fred supposedly lives inside the theater.
- Sean Seifert, project manager, says several construction crew members have felt him walk by, and that they've seen and heard him.
What's next: Australian investment firm Salter Brothers has plans to build a 28-story InterContinental Hotel with 244 rooms on top of the theater.
- Preparing the building to support a hotel on top of it is another reason construction was prolonged.
The main lobby is a new, 68,000-square-foot addition to the original 76,000-square-foot theater.
- As guests enter the theater, they will walk underneath a recreation of the old stone facade and marquee that used to be on Tryon Street.
These are original materials they're using to recreate the facade. They have been stored in the theater for decades.
Most of the ceiling is being recreated out of plaster. The plaster contractor refers to old photos and other theaters by Publix, the original builder, to get the replicas as accurate as possible.
- "It's harder to make new things look old than it is to make old things look new," Bessant says.
The Foundation will add carpeting, seats and technology toward the end of the renovations.
The restoration is supported by donors, the city and Mecklenburg County. The lead gift came from the Belk Family. The campus where the theater is will be named Belk Place.
A painter from New York recreated the murals. There's sound-deadening material behind the paintings that improves the theater acoustics.
To get the murals right, they referred to Observer archives, old, grainy photos, and what little remained of the painting when they first got into the theater.
The theater has five stories and a basement, where they'll host the 100 Club — a space for donors who give $100,000.