Y'all we need your support. Hospitality business in downtown Raleigh is hanging on by a thread. Some of the most challenging months are during the summer when many folks head out of town to the beach, the lakes, the mountains or some other vacation destination. One of the only things that keeps us afloat is Red Hat Amphitheatre. We don't have a sports venue downtown like Durham, or Charlotte does. A sold out Red Hat show brings 5500 people into the heart of downtown. These folks spend their money in retail locations, restaurants, bars and other downtown businesses before and after the show. It is just one block from our front door and it's impact is make or break for us and many other downtown businesses. Red Hat is in danger. The convention center is expanding and it needs to be expanded. It will move across the street into the current location of Red Hat. This means that Red Hat has to move down a block. This move would mean that one block of South St. will have to close. If Red Hat does not move to this location with full capacity the project is dead and Red Hat is gone. I have asked questions about potential relocation and not closing South St. and here is what I have been told. There are no other city-owned sites in downtown that can hold this sized amphitheater. Other cities would win if we don’t build this at the 7500 person capacity. The booking manager for the Red Hat is Live nation and they will skip us for Charlotte and Wilmington. Durham may even build an amphitheatre of this size to accommodate. Dix Park is awesome but the city doesn't have the money to invest to build out the parking, and utility infrastructure that doesn't exist. Also there is a strong chance South Street may be re-routed but this is up to NC DOT not the City of Raleigh. How can you support? Great question! Contact your city council member and tell them that you support small local downtown businesses and going forward with the planned moved of Red Hat one block south. For more information see this article in the New and Observer: https://lnkd.in/eceyq9e6 If you have more questions let me know I will answer what I can and If I can't I will hopefully be able to get the answer. Todd Henderson Bill King Corey Branch Dr. Jane Harrison Christina Jones Mary-Ann Baldwin Gina Pearce Stephens Dave Rose Rick French David Meeker Ashley Christensen Jeff Mickel Jennifer Bradshaw Martin
🔐 Dylan Bouterse
8mo
Full support brother! All else, if you’re against this project, please ensure you’re educated about the facts. The convention center is expanding which means the Amphitheatre either moves or is no longer. The amphitheater is a fantastic amenity downtown and generates a lot of activity and subsequently food and beverage and hospitality revenue. If your anti-angle is noise, I’m coming from a perspective of living less than 2 blocks from the current location and have zero issues with noise. If the anti-angle is closing South St, there are plenty of streets downtown and there’s effectively no real traffic downtown. If you want facts from a study to back that up, please message me. Let’s protect our downtown amenities and support this project!
Laura DeLarme
8mo
I reposted! Thank you for the breakdown and info, I’ve been curious about logistics.
David Meeker
8mo
Couldn’t agree more. Thanks for leading here and we are getting involved.
John Burns
8mo
There's really no excuse for not doing this. The traffic down one block of one street is not worth sacrificing Red Hat.
Andrew McCauley
8mo
I don't understand this plea. Red Hat isn't even that old a venue in Raleigh. Where was all of the revenue coming form before? If the new Convention Center gets busy, doesn't that also help hour business? This seems petty.
Marcus Jackson
8mo
Adam, thank you for your comments, your passion and I adore your beer. 😃 I just made two LinkedIn posts and do hereby challenge the city. One of my posts linked to a list of top outdoor amphitheaters in the nation....check it out. Shouldn't we be striving for greatness? The debate seems to be focused on two options and not on greatness. Why can't we strive to achieve what the City of Durham did with DPAC? Seems like there needs to be more homework. As a tax paying citizen in the downtown area, I want to see a feasibility analysis of South Street vs. Dix Park. What are the financial implications and how do the alternatives compare financially and from an economic impact? If it exists, I stand corrected, please advise. Lastly, no offense intended, why is Dix Park considered to be "out of downtown"....I respectfully disagree, as it is only outside the legal limits of the BID. See my fun challenge to that notion. I will continue to listen to your opinions and thank you again for your commitment to downtown and your very fun brewery.
Mitchell Morton
8mo
How do we help if we don’t live in Raleigh city limits?
Maggie Kane
8mo
Grateful for you. Couldn’t agree more.
Beckton James
8mo
Red Hat Ampitheater needs to stay in downtown Raleigh and NCDOT should not be in charge of South Street any more than it should be in charge of Hilsborough Street. The city of Raleigh has to keep the ampitheater in downtown and not at Dix Park or let this project fail.
Thank you for sharing. Besides contacting our City Council Rep, are there any community support activities or educational town hall type meetings being organized where local businesses can share the benefits and impact of this topic with consumers ?