"The $20 million performing arts theater off of Interstate 95 in Roanoke Rapids that was supposed to be the centerpiece of ambitious entertainment and commercial development project in the mid-2000s will soon be going to auction to the highest bidder.
The 1,500-seat theater opened in 2006 under an operating agreement with entertainer Randy Parton — the brother of country music legend Dolly Parton — and is still in operation, but it has yet to draw the commercial activity that early promoters had promised.
“We’re hoping we can find a buyer able to make use of the theater in its original intent and draw more development interest around that complex as it was intended,” says Roanoke Rapids City Manager Joe Scherer.
Construction of the theater, now called The Roanoke Rapids Theatre (originally called the Randy Parton Theatre), was financed by the city with a $20 million loan that runs through 2027. Scherer says the city still owes about $17 million on the property. Any proceeds from the sale or auction of the property will go toward paying down the principal of its loan.
The city has been seeking a buyer for the property since 2008.
The Roanoke Rapids Theatre is located off of I-95 near the Virginia border, about 90 miles northeast of Raleigh.
The starting bid for the property’s online auction event Aug. 8-10 has been set at $1.1 million....
http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/blog/morning-edition/2016/07/former-randy-parton-theatre-in-n-c-headed-for.html?ana=RSS%26s%3Darticle_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_triad+%28Triad+Business+Journal%29
The 1,500-seat theater opened in 2006 under an operating agreement with entertainer Randy Parton — the brother of country music legend Dolly Parton — and is still in operation, but it has yet to draw the commercial activity that early promoters had promised.
“We’re hoping we can find a buyer able to make use of the theater in its original intent and draw more development interest around that complex as it was intended,” says Roanoke Rapids City Manager Joe Scherer.
It has yet to draw the commercial activity that early promoters had promised
Construction of the theater, now called The Roanoke Rapids Theatre (originally called the Randy Parton Theatre), was financed by the city with a $20 million loan that runs through 2027. Scherer says the city still owes about $17 million on the property. Any proceeds from the sale or auction of the property will go toward paying down the principal of its loan.
The city has been seeking a buyer for the property since 2008.
It has yet to draw the commercial activity that early promoters had promised
The Roanoke Rapids Theatre is located off of I-95 near the Virginia border, about 90 miles northeast of Raleigh.
The starting bid for the property’s online auction event Aug. 8-10 has been set at $1.1 million....
http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/blog/morning-edition/2016/07/former-randy-parton-theatre-in-n-c-headed-for.html?ana=RSS%26s%3Darticle_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_triad+%28Triad+Business+Journal%29
