Contributed
One day in 2012, then-Bank of America executive Cathy Bessant stood inside the remnants of the Carolina Theatre with former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt and banking titan Hugh McColl. The nonprofit Foundation for The Carolinas (FFTC) was thinking about acquiring the historic uptown theater with the goal of renovating it and including it as part of a “mini-campus” focused on philanthropy and civic engagement. They’d been invited by the former Foundation CEO Michael Marsicano to tour the theater, built when silent films were popular, to see if a renovation was feasible.
As Bessant recalls, she, McColl and Gantt exchanged skeptical glances. “It was such a disaster on the inside. There’s no other way to say it,” Bessant says. “The three of us, well, we had some experience in real estate, and we looked at each other thinking, you have to be crazy.”
The lavish cinema palace that hosted acts such as Bob Hope and Elvis Presley drew patrons from across the state in its heyday. But the venue had sat vacant since closing in 1978.
On Monday, the Foundation opened the doors for a public open house at the newly restored Carolina Theatre. With 906 seats, vintage touches and modern amenities, such as 10 laser projectors and a modern sound system, the theater will host concerts, plays, films, speakers and weddings. The theater is also expected to be a catalyst for growth along North Tryon Street.
The $90 million renovation lasted eight years. Efforts to preserve the building spanned decades and involved hundreds of volunteers, many false starts, and a few dashed hopes and dreams.
The restoration also demonstrates the power of determination and vision, say those involved in the project, not only from civic and business leaders, but from the hundreds of people who, over the years, loved an old building and rallied to protect it. “You have to be really tenacious to keep with a project like this for 30 years,” says Charlie Clayton, founder of the Carolina Theatre Preservation Society. “One of life’s lessons with this whole endeavor is don’t give up.”
Debuting in 1927 as part of Paramount Pictures’ Publix Theatre chain, the 36,000-square-foot Carolina Theatre was considered an architectural gem, its opulence reminiscent of a palace. The Mediterranean-inspired building boasted a coffered ceiling, murals on the side walls, a Spanish cathedral window and wrought-iron chandeliers.
The theater opened with a silent movie, A Kiss in a Taxi, with Miss Fae Wilcox at the Wurtlitzer organ, “accompanying a program of novelty slides,” according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission. The theater also had vaudeville performers on stage. It later switched to sound films and attracted audiences from across the state. It was the first in the Carolinas to screen Gone With the Wind, and attracted notable talent to its stage, including a young Elvis Presley, who performed in 1956.
Moira Quinn remembers dressing up to go to the theater with her younger sister. Quinn was one of the nearly 400,000 people who saw the film adaptation of the musical, The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews, which played at the Carolina Theatre for 79 weeks in the 1960s.
Quinn wore patent shoes and was allowed to carry a purse for the special event. She remembers walking through the façade that felt like an entrance to a castle, into the beautiful lobby and up the stairs to the balcony.
“When I was a kid, we always got dressed up for special things. And going to the Carolina Theatre rated high on that list,” says Quinn, chief operating officer and senior vice president of communications at Charlotte Center City Partners. “I imagine that (the theater) might have been getting a bit run down by then, but my 10-year-old eyes only saw elegance and beauty. I am forever grateful to my parents and aunts who made it possible for me to be a princess for an afternoon. We had an experience I will never forget.”
A THEATER FOR THE COMMUNITY
Patrons now enter the theater by walking through a re-creation of the stone facade and marquee made out of original materials found underneath the theater. Bessant says that each time she walks by the restored marquee, which faces North Tryon, she can’t help but smile.
The theater is being billed as a “community-first” nonprofit, and to Bessant, that means returning to the theater’s roots. She says the Foundation plans to partner with and support other community-based groups, such as the library and emerging-arts organizations.
“From its origins, I think of it as a theater for the community,” she says. “This is a theater for all kinds of endeavors, civic learning, educational programming and, of course, entertainment.”
Charlotte leaders are also looking to the theater to act as a catalyst for the North Tryon corridor. A 250-room InterContinental Hotel was planned to go above the theater but plans stalled in 2020 and the developer, Australian investment firm Salter Brothers, has not indicated what it intends to do.
“This venue will infuse sustained vibrancy and extraordinary experiences in uptown’s North Tryon corridor,” Michael Smith, President and CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners, said about the theater. “The renovation is a stunning mix of 1920s charm and 21st-century technology and comfort. The compelling programs and events that have already been announced are a great sampling of what will be a unique asset and for all ages across the region and guests from beyond.” Bessant says patrons can expect the theater to offer programs that will be hard to find elsewhere. “The experience is going to be amazing,” she says. “Seeing those lights and seeing the theater, it’s going to be a true community asset.”
Author: staff report
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