Downtown Fayetteville events center on pace, says county: 'We deserve this'

A multipurpose events center has been years in the making for Cumberland County.

But the pace of the multimillion-dollar project has quickened in the last couple of years.

Cumberland County Commissioner Jimmy Keefe said if design and construction proceed on a typical schedule, “I would say by the end of 2025, you should be able to buy tickets.”

More: Cumberland County Commissioners select new performing arts center site

He later said, “Yes, it is an accelerated schedule,” but he also noted discussions for such a facility started in 2013, when he was serving as chairperson of the commission.

In November, the Board of Commissioners unanimously selected downtown Fayetteville as a site for the center, which will have a maximum capacity of 2,500 people. The project architect, EwingCole, was chosen the same month.

More: Commissioners move forward with Fayetteville performing arts center plans. Here's what's next

On Monday, the board chose construction firms T.A. Loving and Metcon Buildings & Infrastructure as the combined construction manager-at-risk for the project. Commissioners will consider a contract for approval on May 1, according to county staff.

The companies’ bid scored the highest among firms interviewed in March, according to a county news release that highlighted the unanimous recommendation of the firms by the Crown Event Center Committee.

More: Performing arts study results show want for new center in Cumberland County

The firms were also chosen because of their local presence and experience operating as a construction manager-at-risk — which means they are legally obligated to deliver a project within a specified time frame and on budget. The joint venture scored high as well on its ability to solicit subcontractors who are local, minority, women or veteran-owned, the release states.

Keefe, who serves on the Event Center Committee, said both T.A. Loving and Metcon had good reputations. He said Metcon had been around the area for a long time, and its list of local projects include the Cumberland County Detention Center. The joint venture would likely exceed county goals on hiring local and diverse subcontractors, he said.

“They know the area and they know the contractors,” he said. “So we already have a built-in relationship moving forward.”

T. A. Loving is headquartered in Goldsboro with Fayetteville offices. Metcon, which is Native American-owned, also has Fayetteville offices and is headquartered in Pembroke.

Keefe said hiring local is key.

“If you don’t get the community involved in this, it’s gonna be hard to make it a success,” he said.

Flexibility

The events center is planned to be located in what is now largely a parking lot just west of the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse, bordered by the Otis Jones Parkway and Gillespie, E. Russell and Dick streets.

It comes with a hefty price tag: An estimated construction cost of $65 to $85 million.

But Keefe said Cumberland is the only county in the state with more than 300,000 people without such a venue.

“We deserve this,” he said.

The Cumberland events center will differ from similar types of venues, he said.

“This isn’t going to be a traditional performing arts center with locked-in seats,” he said. “It’s gonna have some ability to have that look, but at the same time be able to be flexible enough for other types of events; you can even do banquets in there.

“It makes it much more accessible to the community,” he said. “Community organizations are not going to be able to rent out DPAC,” he said of the Durham Performing Arts Center.

Keefe said this is the type of facility that has the best chance of being self-sufficient, according to an initial consultant on the project.

“Performing arts centers are usually subsidized pretty heavily.”

Hard deadline

A hard deadline is one spur moving the multipurpose center along.

Several years ago, the Board of Commissioners decided to allow two venues, the Crown Theatre and Arena, to lapse into noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The venues are more than 50 years old, and it would have cost millions to bring them into compliance.

“And once you do that, you still wouldn’t be big enough to be able to handle a lot of the touring shows that go out,” Keefe said. “Let’s face it, a tour in today’s world is not the same as a tour in 1960.

“The timing was right.”

Commissioners thought it better to shutter the venues.

Brian Haney, assistant county manager, said in an email that the theater and arena “must close by Oct. 31, 2025.”

The new events center is targeted to open Nov. 1 of the same year, he said.

“This is still the target. Based on that schedule, we anticipate breaking ground in early 2024,” he said.

Haney said it was too soon for design renderings of the project, but added the county hoped to be able to share information in the “very near future.”

He said staff was working with the architect and hoped to have a revised program and designs to the Event Center Committee and then the full board of commissioners in May.

Downtown double-down

Keefe called the multipurpose center an investment.

“Projects like this are not only good for the cultural and arts side of it, but they are economic multipliers,” he said.

He talked about the advantage of the downtown location and proximity to Segra Stadium, home of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers minor league baseball team.

“I don’t know how many times people have been to Segra Stadium and said, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m in Fayetteville,’” he said. “That’s a compliment and an insult.’

“I think we need to double-down on that, and these architects and designers understand that,” he said. "It’s far enough away from Segra that it provides a different anchor. But it’s still walkable and it’s still going to help the existing businesses that are downtown.”

Myron Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Downtown Fayetteville events center on pace, says county