Watch out. I’ve been told any critical thinking of the plan that was slapped together in 1 month would mean cancelling everything. 
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I’m confident this is not what happened for the RHA relocation
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The RHA relocation is absolutely an afterthought of the Convention Center expansion.
They completely switched gears from a plan closing Lenoir to a plan closing South in not much more than a month.
So what you see before you is not the product of years of negotiation, public meetings, countless iterations, deliberations, and design reviews, etc. The whole thing has been slapped together rather quickly, seemingly because we are caught between a rock and a hard place with a tight schedule: RCC construction has to be complete in time for the 2027~2028 opening of the Omni Hotel, so Old RHA needs to close in Fall 2025 in order to allow RCC construction to proceed, and therefore New RHA needs to be open by Spring 2026 in order to keep from losing any part of the 2026 concert season.
At this point, it seems everybody involved in the decision-making process is all-in, circling the wagons around the “Close South Street” plan, so I guess there is no turning back. But I think it’s unfortunate we as a city have painted ourselves into a corner like this.
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Perfection is the enemy of progress.
I trust that the decision-makers that have been working on this plan (and all other potential plans) for over a year know a hell of a lot more than the people in this forum did enough thought here to understand that this plan is the best it’s going to get.
I’m absolutely sure that every other possible idea has been explored and shot down for one reason or another. These same people that came up with the plan are now acting in desperation for a reason.
If they felt more time planning would be beneficial, they’d be asking for it. There’s absolutely a reason they’re not asking for additional time. The answer is that we either lose that part south street or we lose the amphitheater (which is the word they’ve been trying to get out).
It really comes down to trust. Your argument is that they’re incompetent and they threw this plan together in a few days/weeks. And now the entire measure to save the amphitheater is really them covering their own ass for not planning. I really really don’t think that’s the case here. There would be a hell of a lot more evidence of lack of planning.
Communication about all possible options could have been better, but I know that it’s been an option on the table for quite some time.
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In the future when it comes to renovate or replace the Performance Art Center maybe it will include an open air or indoor amp that will replace Red Hat. Then the street can be reopened. Maybe not for many decades but nothing is permanent.
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Just a thought that popped into my head. But if I’m the developer of the Omni Hotel, I’d be pretty upset about the idea of Red Hat Amphitheater leaving downtown. Omni Hotel would probably be getting thousands of guests every year from concerts at Red Hat.
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just because what was public about RHA changed within the past 30 days in no way means the plan originated in the past 30 days. I think it’s appropriate to give the professionals a little credit for considering alternatives before accusing them of “slapping this together in a month.” Kimley-Horn is a client of mine, and they’re the design consultants. They know how to do this methodically, consistently, and far better than anyone’s armchair quarterbacking on here.
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As a consultant, you’re giving consultants a lot of credit here. 
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The professionals always make it look like it was an easy play. And not to beat a dead horse 
but not perfect doesn’t mean someone didn’t put the work in
I agree with many of @orulz’s points in this thread and think the alternative site is at least worth a quick study before disrupting the grid, but I think @boyhowdy is spot on about the timeline and giving the design team some more credit.
I don’t think the fact that the switch went public a month ago means this process only took one month. To get to the point of the schematic plan submitted to the city is definitely not one month of work; I’d guess it is several months.
I have done masterplan studies where we began the process by studying 3-5 scenarios, presented those to a steering committee, progressed 1-2 to a conceptual level, and then developed one of those into a schematic design package. Sometimes what is made public lags behind internal decision-making… (in other words, “we know both options are going to go to a vote by city council, but we have already received feedback from the city staff managing this project that option B is the preference, and we are going to continue developing that one”). This is exactly why accelerated schedules are so frustrating for everyone.
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“On Tuesday night, the Boylan Heights Neighborhood Association is meeting with Raleigh City Council Member Jane Harrison to look at different renderings that won’t close South Street.”
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Could we just relocate Boylan Heights to Cary? It’d be way easier than dealing with their shit on every. damn. project.
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So Jane Harrison, Mary Black, and Christina Jones all need to be voted OUT, correct?
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This is in Jane’s District and she is running unopposed so she isn’t being voted out this time.
And keep in mind – just because a councilor attends a meeting of their constituents (a small group) doesn’t mean they will automatically vote the way that group requests.
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Exactly…
Could be wrong, this one is going to be a close vote, still likely to pass in the end.
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I got a canned response from Jane. But her statement basically said “I expect the venue to stay downtown for years to come. It’s a wonderful community asset. And the current plan is…” Followed by it is important to her that all voices are heard. City staff is evaluation connectivity concerns. And she’s meeting with neighbors & city staff to find common ground so everyone is happy.
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THAT IS CORRECT. If we can at least dump 2/3 that will be very helpful for our City.
I woke up at like 4 am and read this, so I can’t really summarize it, lol. But I do recall a couple baffling quotes. “Downtown Raleigh businesses call for public input on Red Hat Amphitheater plans”
Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article290971795.html#storylink=cpy
Well damn ok… anyone in here want to run against Jane Harrison?? We’ll all throw you some cash to get your campaign started (not joking lmao)
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