$20.5M loss? How will Thomas Wolfe Auditorium closures impact Asheville, Buncombe economy

ASHEVILLE - With the loss of Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville Symphony is facing an existential crisis.

That's the way Daniel Crupi, executive director of the symphony, described the impact of the complete HVAC system failure of downtown Asheville's aging auditorium, which left the symphony scrambling, forced to leave the venue it has called home for 55 years.

The auditorium itself is facing several months of closures, with all future events moved to the building's arena, rescheduled or canceled altogether until repairs, partial or otherwise, can be made.

The symphony's shows were moved to venues across Asheville, including the First Baptist Church at the northern edge of downtown, but smaller auditorium capacities mean the symphony, often 60-plus musicians on stage, as well as a conductor and soloist, must play double performances (First Baptist can seat 900 people versus Thomas Wolfe's 2,400), and even then the number of tickets they can sell is capped lower than what they're used to.

It means "tricky math," Crupi said, and a financial loss for the symphony of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We will undoubtedly take a huge loss this year," he said, and though he expects they can weather it, “the longer this drags on, the more difficult it is going to be for the symphony moving forward."

But more than the hit to the symphony, Crupi said as long as the auditorium is out of commission, he's concerned about the downtown community at large — the restaurants, businesses, hoteliers and nonprofits who rely on the economic traffic driven by the venue.

With current conditions, Chris Corl, the city's director of Community and Regional Entertainment Facilities, whose department oversees the space, estimated a reduction of the facility's annual economic impact to Asheville and Buncombe County of $20.5 million, a 27% reduction from fiscal year 2023.

If the auditorium were to fully close, that would increase to a $27.5 million loss.

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"Those are huge numbers," Crupi said. The way forward, he said, the path of which is still being determined, will require a coalition of entities.

“The whole place is in dire need of reinvestment," Crupi said of the venue. "But the big question mark, and the elephant in the room, is how do you pay for that?”

Updates on renovations

Corl offered an update on the needed auditorium repairs at an Aug. 14 Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting, a board comprised of Vice Mayor Sandra Kilgore and council members Maggie Ullman and Sage Turner. Turner was absent at that meeting.

Complaints about the theater's condition are nothing new. Opened in January 1940, the auditorium was renovated in 1974 to its current format. Thomas Wolfe comprises the Harrah's Cherokee Center complex along with the ExploreAsheville.com Arena.

Some of the first calls for renovation came in 1982, and since then, Corl said in a previous conversation with the Citizen Times, "nothing has happened."

Now, Crupi said, "in my mind, I don't think there's an option." Either renovations come to the venue, or Asheville faces what he feared would be a "catastrophic loss."

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What's the current plan for the auditorium?

In late July, the Citizen Times reported that after the complete HVAC system failure, repairs would take six to nine months, carrying a $1.5 million price tag.

Corl said new estimates for "quick-fix" repairs represent a "significant reduction" from the previously described scope: $190,000 will be enough to reopen the auditorium in fall or early winter, but with a reduced capacity, non-ticketed events only and amended booking policies.

The rest of the previously estimated costs, totaling $1.2 million, will be delayed, with new funds invested in planning and design.

The "quick-fix" plan temporarily abandons the auditorium's main HVAC unit, which sits in the attic at the center of the house seats, and provided 55-60% of the auditorium's heating and cooling capabilities. It was the first of the three HVAC units to go down in May, and in order to fix it, the city would need to install a catwalk and fall arrest system — priced at about $500,000 of the $1.2 million total — to even begin the work.

Corl said regional and local crews familiar with the auditorium's fraught system have declined to do any more work on the unit, which hulks in the 1930s attic, well behind current standards, until those safety features are installed.

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In the meantime, $190,000 would cover repairs for the balcony unit, which provides 30% of the auditorium's heating and cooling and crashed July 3 after a hot and humid sold-out show, as well as the unit on stage, providing 15%, which also went out July 3.

It will take "testing and balancing" the two smaller units before Corl can safely say how significant the reduction in venue capacity will be, but he anticipates down to 1,000 to 1,5000 people between September and May, and as low as 500 people in June, July and August. Even then, there's no guarantee of how long the fixes would last before something else breaks.

Next steps

As conditions at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium have worsened, with peeling plaster, miscellaneous water drips and faulty seating among the least of its woes, there have been numerous attempts to jumpstart renovation conversations. With the most recent failures ultimately resulting in the complete closure of the auditorium, it's top of mind for many in Asheville, including City Council members, who have requested the issue be brought before them in the coming weeks.

Since 2002, Corl said there have been nine studies or conceptual renovation designs undertaken for the auditorium — which range broadly from a district-style development to a "Broadway House" scale renovation, to rebuilding the theater in a new location, to creating a symphonic/concert hall. Estimates in today's dollars go anywhere from $18 million to $195 million.

Most recently, in January 2020, "the month before COVID shut down the world," Corl unveiled a $100 million renovation for the auditorium. But at the onset of the pandemic, plans fell to the wayside.

Corl said he has re-engaged the most recent design team to take another look at the different project options, creating a "menu" of concepts, with price ranges included, to be discussed as soon as the Aug. 21 Arts AVL Town Hall, where Thomas Wolfe Auditorium will be the center of discussion.

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The question people have to ask, Corl said, is: "What do we want Thomas Wolfe Auditorium to be in the future?"

“We have sunk a lot of money over the years into basic repairs of the HVAC system,” he said, and are in a similar position with other systems, like electrical. "It's getting close to the time that something needs to happen."

Arts AVL Town Hall: Thomas Wolfe

• When: 3 p.m. Aug. 21.

• Where: Harrah's Cherokee Center

• What: A discussion of the state of Thomas Wolfe Auditorium with a panelists including Mayor Manheimer; Vic Isley, president and CEO of Explore Asheville and BCTDA; Asheville Symphony representatives and more.

• Registration is required at artsavl.org/townhall.

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: What's next for Thomas Wolfe Auditorium repairs? Quick fix incoming