by Leo Suarez

South Street Closed, Amphitheater Construction Up Next

South Street, between McDowell and Dawson, is now closed. I think this is a pretty big deal as it marks the start of a second wave of the “Convention Center District”. That’s not a thing I’m embracing but something that I think we’re becoming more and more; a convention center downtown. That’s probably a topic for another day.

South Street is closing because the new Red Hat Amphitheater construction should start soon. We’ve talked about it before but the new amphitheater will sit across this section of South Street. Then comes the Raleigh Convention Center expansion and Omni Hotel. With all this going on, the next couple of years will see lots of construction but should pave the way for a great entertainment district.

I do worry about the impact of large events, not exactly the events themselves, they are great, keep them coming, but it’s the times in-between the events. I much prefer an always active 16-hour city, which is what I’d like to see downtown become. Perhaps the southern end of Fayetteville Street will be more driven by events while the Warehouse District, Glenwood South, and Moore Square can become the place where active street life is common. It’s just unfortunate that the connection between places like this and the up-and-coming Dix Park could be separated by a dead zone (sometimes) around the Convention Center.

More on that in the future but perhaps the answer is that gondola so we can fly right over it all!

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