The Raleigh City Council approved plans to build a new Red Hat Amphitheater on Tuesday.
The $40 million project calls for building a 6,000-seat venue next to the existing Red Hat Amphitheater downtown, which tourism officials say will attract major music artists.
“Because we’re smaller, we don’t have much opportunity for a lot of our performances,” said Kerry Painter, executive director of the Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex. “If an artist can fill six, seven or 8,000 seats, why would they fill 3,000 seats?”
The city must close off a block of South Street to make room for the new amphitheater. As The News & Observer reported last week, Boylan Heights residents support the new amphitheater project but oppose the closure of South Street, which connects the neighborhood to downtown Raleigh.
The city should also consider the needs of cyclists and pedestrians, said Raleigh City Council member Corey Branch.
“One of the things we keep talking about downtown is making it more pedestrian friendly, and yet here and now we’re arguing about car traffic,” Branch said at Tuesday’s city council meeting. “So if we can really highlight that and talk about how we’re trying to continue pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and especially keep the kids coming downtown safe and crossing streets.”
City officials say they looked at other alternatives for the new amphitheater, including an elevated structure, but concluded that closing South Street was the most economical option for the project. The Raleigh City Council will vote on the street closure at a meeting scheduled for Sept. 17.
