How about a real RenCen theater?

The Wake Forest Town Board retreat Friday began with serious presentations. The town is being pushed (forced) to improve all aspects of its stormwater controls by the feds and the state – “unfunded mandate” will become the mantra of the next few years – and inflation is raising the cost of transformers to dizzying heights with Wake Forest Power having to provide at least 12 to every apartment complex.
Everyone was glumly envisioning higher fees when Debbie Dunn, the Renaissance Centre manager, took the microphone and our spirits lifted as she took us through the 10 years of the centre’s life, the enormous response from the town and surrounding area to the shows and programs and on to what might be possible in the near future.
“The town has embraced the centre beyond expectations,” Dunn said. From gala events to weddings and birthday parties, children camps and stage shows, “This is where memories are made in Wake Forest.”
“We’re selling out like crazy,” Dunn said. Three recent shows sold out in minutes with people overflowing from the ticket desk and lobby on to the sidewalk while the phones rang all the time.
She also listed all the shortfalls the current centre has, including flat seating so the people seated two or three rows back and behind them cannot see a dancer’s feet, lack of space backstage and no ability to add equipment that would enhance shows. Despite an expensive renovation during those 10 years, the basic structure did begin life as a one-story drugstore, Holding Drugs.
The possible solution? A real theater next door with seating for 600 or 700 with a second story for offices.
Speaking of all the residential housing now in and soon to materialize in downtown as well as all the subdivisions, Dunn said, “People want to have somewhere to go on weekends and at night.”
And the centre easily found people who were eager to support it through a new group, Friends of the Centre.
Dunn and the town have already begun to investigate the possibility.
First, the Town of Wake Forest is negotiating to purchase the land between the RenCen and Elm Avenue. That grassy parcel contains 0.27 acres, is owned by East Elm Partners of Raleigh and is valued at $88,913 by Wake County.
Second, Dunn and the town have identified five area architectural firms, asking if a theater could be built there, what they anticipated as the seating capacity, the cost per square foot and the total cost. Each also submitted a photograph of a completed similar project – all of them beautiful.
Kills Almond Architects said 700 seats with 18,900 square feet and $7 million to $10 million to complete.
LS3P said 600 seats with 24,409 square feet would cost $20 to $28 million with walls corridors, mechanical ducts.
Clark Nexsen said a theater with 700 seats in 45,000 square feet was possible and suggested a feasibility study that could cost $18,500.
Clearscapes, which built the Cary Performing Center, said 600 seats in 12,000 square feet would cost $10 to $20 million. The architect visited the Renaissance Centre in person.
DLR Group estimated 600 to 700 seats in the audience chamber and the stage would take up 10,000 square feet with a total of 30,000 to 40,000 square feet in the building. Cost per square foot could be $425 to $500, and the total cost could be $16 to $26 million. Again, the architect visited the Renaissance Centre in person.
So, the next steps will be a feasibility study to determine if indeed a theater can be built on that land, how large it can/could be and how that maps onto the money. The editor had to wonder if the town can start a fund-raising drive, there could be a bond referendum or there could be a loan – or maybe all three? Dunn did not dive into those questions, leaving it at the study and telling us what the results are.
Dunn and the Centre, however, did recently rent a set of risers – elevated seats – that fit into the main room, and the response was enthusiastic because people had a clear line of sight. The survey after that experiment was one person shy of 100 percent in favor of that kind of seating for plays and performances.
In the meantime, before the feasibility study, Dunn has been very busy lining up shows, performances and events, one for each month to celebrate the tenth anniversary at the centre.
It will take place on November 18, 2023, with the Tenth Anniversary Gala with Marcus Anderson, just as it began ten years ago.
In between there will be The Drifters on April 13; “A Game Apart: The Jackie Robinson Story” on February 24; the fifth annual Film Festival on March 1 and 2; three shows by The Celtic Angels on December 15, 16 and 17; along with local celebrations and other attractions.
###