Comments on: Downtown Concert Venue Possible [UPDATE: 1-4-08]

By: wufpakjack

wufpakjack — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 22:10:00 +0000

Personally, I think its an awesome idea. There are not many other places in the country that have an outdoor amphitheater in the middle of downtown. I've long thought that Raleigh has great potential to be a very cool mid-size city much like Austin, TX.

In my opinion, Walnut Creek is too far out. There's nothing around it so its extremely inconvenient. On top of that, since WCA so far out, people are inclined to drive drunk.

The upside potential for a downtown venue is fantastic. The only problem I can see is there are not enough hotel rooms downtown to attract big-names.

Raleigh needs something to attract tourist outside of the Hurricanes & the new convention center. Quite honestly, I think an amphitheater in that location would help pull in business for the convention center. As superficial as it is, a downtown venue adds an air of coolness. As a person who travels a lot, like it or not, nobody wants to go to a city thats not cool.

My 2 pennies.

By: Leo

Leo — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:44:00 +0000

I do realize that the details are vague so I am waiting for the final designs. Raleighrob, Winston Square looks nice but I still think that this block would not be the best location for it. I could be proven wrong though because someone could argue that it is a perfect fit for this “cultural district” with the PE center nearby, the art galleries in the warehouse district, and the future contemporary art museum.

It does feel like they just stumbled upon this fact when talking to the mayor, the article is not too clear. We’ll just have to wait and see. BTW, e-mail me at the website address dtraleigh1792@gmail.com.

By: Ginny

Ginny — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:10:00 +0000

Interesting article. Wonder under what context Mayor Meeker’s comments were made. Was he speaking somewhere and this came up, or did WRAL just so happen to question him about this. Maybe this has been discussed before and I’ve just missed it b/c I’m still finding my footing in the area. Also, what’s your e-mail address?

By: RaleighRob

RaleighRob — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:18:00 +0000

Well so far they’ve been pretty vague about the type of amphitheater they’ve got in mind. I can visualize something that incorporates green space with outdoor entertainment that isn’t too permanent and could still be used for expansion.

Certainly we don’t need something as big as Walnut Creek or Koka Booth out there.
Perhaps something like in downtown Winston-Salem at Winston Square? see http://www.ci.winston-salem.nc.us/Assets/CityOfWS//Images/Recreation/Wsquare6.jpg