You know, you’re right. I coulda sworn someone on my adult soccer team said it was gonna be at the NCMA. Clicking around on their website it’s all cryptic and just mentions a ‘secret location’ so make of that what you will. When I was at the Biltmore around Christmas I noticed they had one setup out there, so maybe it could be anywhere in Raleigh. I have no idea how much space they would need for something like this though.
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In Atlanta it was just in a room on the Beltline. And in Charlotte I believe it was just in a wharehouse so it might just be somewhere like that.
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the ones I know about are in large warehouse type buildings. The one in Charlotte was in the old Ford assembly plant (yes ford use to build cars in Charlotte). The Biltmore (Asheville for non NC natives) is in what use to be a livestock barn that was converted into event space. Las Vegas is in unused convention space (not use due to Covid). So unless NCMA is going to removed all are and walls to make a large open space I would be surprised if it’s there.
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It says March, but 4/13 is the earliest I saw tickets available.
Edit, I see it opens 3/31, but it’s already sold out. Thanks for the link, I’m already planning a trip.
Apparently the National Guard is building a museum across Blue Ridge Road from the Art Museum. I feel like this is the first I’ve heard about this?
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I had no idea that this was a thing.
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NC Art Museum Park and Amphitheater Renovation: $21.5 million project being advertised for designers by NC Dept of Natural and Cultural Resources
The NC Museum of Art is in search of a creative design team to provide all required design, bidding, construction administration, and closeout services for the East Building and Museum Park improvements project which will include four improvement projects: Amphitheater Restoration, The Porch Venue & Park Entrance, Community Arts & Education Center, and Science Laboratory & Education Center.
The North Carolina Museum of Art seeks to be a welcoming and accessible place for all North Carolinians and national and international visitors, and its 2020-2025 strategic plan outlines
a series of repair and renovation projects across its campus. These projects are sited in the Museum’s original East Building and its immediate grounds, which encompass the Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Park Amphitheater and a small portion of the Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park.
To achieve the Museum’s goals, the strategic plan provided for the updating of its Amphitheater, which is now 25 years old and does not meet present needs and requirements with respect to accessibility, amenities, seating, and stage and technical capabilities. This renovation involves the artwork PICTURE THIS, of which the stage is a part.
The project will revitalize the Amphitheater resulting in renovated restrooms, redesigned trails, a designated concessions space, renovated seating, stage upgrades, the replacement of defective concrete and other visitors’ surfaces, including the landscape, and lighting and fiber replacements
and upgrades. The strategic plan also calls for the transformation of the lower level of East Building into a new entrance, connecting the art museum proper to the Museum Park. Ensuring accessibility
between these two parts of the campus will be a major focus of the project as will the creation of a new community arts and education center to welcome multigenerational visitors from the Park into the East Building. This space will offer interactive and hands-on art making opportunities and signal the Museum’s commitment to inspiring creativity. The subsequent loss of operational space will be addressed by building a storage space adjacent to the loading dock of East Building.
This renovation will also activate the former restaurant space once more, creating a food and beverage venue with park views and an outdoor terrace that encourages guests to linger
and enjoy the NCMA’s unique setting. This operation will also support special events, which can take place indoors or in a new event space to be built on the adjacent lawn. From the event space to the Amphitheater, the outdoor space behind East Building will be activated as an arts and entertainment green.
The relocation and paving of an access road involves a redirection of an existing access road and the elimination of part (almost all) of that existing road as much of the existing road will likely become the terrace. It also includes the demolition of an existing wall originally constructed for the East Building and running through the sculpture Picture This. The newly developed road should be paved and likely follow the natural arch of the landscape from the split behind East Building to the amphitheater.
To continue to fulfill the Museum’s responsibility to care for the People’s Collection, the NCMA is undertaking the renovation of the art conservation laboratory on the B Level of East Building to meet current and future needs of the collection. We will also create a new, public facing classroom and lab space on the plaza level of East Building to offer visitors opportunities to learn about the intersection of art and science and the field of conservation, which reveals how works of art were made and how we can keep them looking as they were intended across space and time.
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Very cool! The Amphitheater is a bit dated and it will be great for it to be updated.
Do you know if the $21.5M is just for the Amphitheater Restoration, or for the entire project?
Very interesting to see all the details of this. Thank you for sharing! The art museum and its trails is one of my favorite places in Raleigh.
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Would be nice to have something like a tank museum.
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Also good to have some tanks nearby in case the Rodin sculptures come to life and attack…
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For as long as I can remember, by which I mean the 1980s, the restaurant at the lower level has had a terrific outdoor view of… a lawn. Great to hear that the museum wants to do something with that entrance!
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Per the TBJ, the Blue Ridge Corridor Alliance met on Tuesday and talked about updates on Health and Human Services’ move to the corridor from Dix Park (by contract, this must happen by July 2025), as well as Bandwidth’s new headquarters.
For starters, HHS revealed more detailed renderings of their new headquarters, as well as how that move will be phased.
Phase 1 of the new HHS headquarters will start by demolishing an old mail center on the site this summer, then build an 11-story (it used to be 10!), 450k sq. ft. tower that looks like this:
As for how this fits in with later phases:
Meanwhile, Bandwidth has also been making progress in building its new headquarters. The pictures and general plans are things we’ve already seen or know of, but we now also know that the headquarters will have lots of sports amenities, open areas, corporate events spaces, and (interestingly) a company-run Montessori school for kids under 6.
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While this will definitely provide a much needed face-lift to the area, it still doesn’t provide any amenities for a part of town that desperately needs them. Hopefully these new projects will attract more restaurants, shopping, grocery, hospitality and entertainment options. Kane should definitely have the Blue Ridge corridor on his radar.
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Edit: Slides were shared at the State Construction Conference in March with massings, site layout for the potential full build out. Not sure if I’m supposed to share?
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It sounds like the later phases of the HHS project will have opportunities for them, though, as well as this older article about Bandwidth’s expansion. So maybe there’s reasons for cautious optimism even without Kane being involved?
Looks like the Corridor Alliance’s website has a page with records of past presentations, but it looks like they’ve been behind in updating them, recently. So… uhh… take that as you will, I guess?
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I wouldn’t say this area is really lacking in amenities. I bike around here often and really enjoy it.
- Reedy Creek Greenway
- NC Art Museum along with an upcoming Coast Guard Museum
- 2 grocery stores in under 1.5 miles.
- Hospital
- Restaurant/bars 2 bus lines (4, 27, CRX)
- 1.5 miles to PNC
I think this area is packed with amenities considering it’s not really populated. My biggest complaint is no bike lanes on Blue Ridge Rd north of the Art Museum and no official bike lane heading west on Lake Boone Trail near Food Lion. The eastbound I don’t complain as much since it’s slightly downhill.
On separate notes of this area, I found a “small” house being built. I’m guessing this is considered an ADU?
Reedy Creek Trail
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The whole argument against this side of town is that it lacks amenities to keep visitors within the Blue Ridge Corridor once the event for which they came is over. Sure there are “attractions” that draw people to this area, but definitely not many amenities such as restaurants, bars or hotels.
The owner of the Hurricanes (Dunden) and the NHL commissioner (Bettman) have both come out and said that this area needs to improve our they’ll start looking at other alternatives. Basically other cities, not other parts of town.
There are also a lot more people that live within or along the BRC than you think. There’s Meredith Woods behind the Art Museum, Meredith Woods North, hundreds if not thousands of apartments, Inside Wade (a mix of singles family homes, townhomes and apartments) numerous neighborhoods just past the horse pastures you pictured and many other neighborhoods.
The BRC is the gateway for visitors coming into Raleigh from the west and it could be so much more than it is right now. Because right now it’s mostly a mix of a few attractions with a lot of run down government facilities. Sounds like change is coming, but we all know nothing comes fast in Raleigh. I’m sure the city has a few more dollars sitting around collecting dust for another round of studies from yet another consulting firm…
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Sign says Tiny Homes…that’s cool!
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Sadly I don’t live in Raleigh anymore but have they even started the Blue Ridge/ Hillsborough St separation yet?