As the September 17 public hearing for the proposed relocation of Red Hat Amphitheater approaches, the Raleigh City Council seems to be looking for ways to make the plan work—despite lingering concerns about public engagement, neighboring communities, and traffic.
The council agreed on Monday to move forward with closing South Street between South McDowell and South Dawson Streets and purchasing an adjacent 0.19-acre parcel to make room to relocate Red Hat Amphitheater, given that the Raleigh Convention Center’s expansion soon could overtake its current location on South McDowell.
But nothing is set in stone until the expected vote.
Moving the amphitheater over one block would keep it downtown, within walking distance of local restaurants and businesses. That idea has near-universal support, but closing off South Street is less popular, as it would disrupt connectivity from downtown to Dix Park and the Boylan Heights and Heritage Park neighborhoods.
At its August 20 meeting, the council heard impassioned public comments from downtown business owners who repeated the message they have voiced for weeks: losing the amphitheater would be disastrous for downtown.
“I can say to you categorically that were it not for venues like Red Hat, I would not still be in business,” said Pam Blondin, the owner of DECO Raleigh, a gift shop on Salisbury Street. Blondin and others implored the council to consider the foot traffic Red Hat brings downtown, boosting public safety and the local economy.
Most community members who spoke at the council meeting agreed that closing off part of South Street to keep the amphitheater downtown was a necessary—if imperfect—solution. But some dissenters argued cutting off South Street would disrupt traffic flow through downtown, harming nearby businesses and neighborhoods.
Much of the debate surrounding South Street’s proposed closure stemmed from a perceived lack of transparency from city staff about the planning process for Red Hat’s relocation. Some residents expressed confusion about why South Street should close instead of Lenoir Street on the other side of the block.
In an effort to ease these concerns, Kerry Painter, the city’s executive director of the Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex, gave a detailed presentation to the council on Tuesday about the different options city staff considered for the new Red Hat location and why they ultimately recommended the council authorize closing South Street.
Painter explained that the city has a $40 million budget for the project and a set of specifications for the new amphitheater. It needs to fit 6,000 people (about the same as its current capacity) in order to continue attracting the same caliber of performers. It must also be spacious enough to accommodate food and beverage stations, restrooms, artist dressing rooms, and safe egress.
The city evaluated a plan to close Lenoir Street to make room for the amphitheater, and another that didn’t close Lenoir or South Streets, Painter said. But staff determined that neither option would be feasible for $40 million, nor would either create enough space for enough seats, food stations, and back-of-house amenities for artists.
Painter said the only way to meet all these needs is to close South Street and purchase a small triangle of land on the other side of it. The added square footage from the street closure plus that 0.19-acre parcel would be enough to expand the amphitheater’s footprint, she said, adding that the N.C. Department of Transportation currently owns the parcel and is willing to sell.
At the time staff made these assessments, Painter said, “we did a lot of talking, some of it not quite so public for some, but public for others.”
The city previously held a handful of community stakeholder events to get the word out about the new amphitheater, but confusion and concern from some—particularly Heritage Park and Boylans Heights residents—remains.
Painter described the convention center, the amphitheater, and the new hotel going up alongside them as a “three-legged stool” that will sustain each other and bring revenue to downtown Raleigh.
“Having the [amphitheater] expansion brings in more bodies, brings in more business, [fills] more hotel rooms, helps all boats rise,” she said.
Connectivity and accessibility are top priorities in the new amphitheater plan, Painter said. Site renderings show Lenoir Street redesigned to connect to the Chavis-Dix Strollway, with improved street crossings, a new “pocket park” on South Dawson Street, and a tree-lined, pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly Lenoir Street with wide sidewalks.
Timing is also a factor, Painter added: the city wants the new amphitheater ready in time for the 2026 concert season. Otherwise, touring acts could skip over the venue that year and never return.
City staff are aware of traffic concerns, Painter said, and are considering the feasibility of adding a “connector” or “slip lane” for eastbound vehicular traffic between Dawson and McDowell Streets to reroute traffic that the South Street closure will impact. But she emphasized that this is not a part of the plan the council will vote on in September, just an idea for the future.
Following Painter’s presentation, several council members including Christina Jones, Stormie Forte, Mary Black, and Jane Harrison said there should have been more public engagement from the start. At mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin’s request, city manager Marchell Adams-David agreed to schedule a community engagement event before the planned September 17 council vote. Because of the tight timeline, Adams-David said city staff, not the council members, will likely lead the event.
Harrison said she also wants to see a traffic impact analysis of the South Street closure before the vote.
The general consensus among the councilors seemed to be that more work is needed before September 17 to iron out the details of this plan, but that they want to make it happen. In the end, they voted unanimously to authorize the city manager “to execute the instruments necessary” to purchase the 0.19-acre parcel below South Street for no more than $150,000, and adopted a resolution of intent to close one block of South Street—two steps toward advancing the Red Hat relocation despite some unresolved loose ends.
Reach Reporter Chloe Courtney Bohl at [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].
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