Fayetteville’s event venue, the Crown Complex, is anticipating a possible $77.5 million renovation based on CSL’s independent study recommendation. 

The Crown Complex opened in 1967 and has served as an entertainment venue to the greater Cumberland area for over 50 years with its theatre and arena. In 1997, the complex added another entertainment site, the Crown Coliseum. 

In early 2020, the county commissioner announced the closure of the theatre and arena by 2025 due to upgrades needed to meet ADA and safety requirements. Spectra Management has managed the Crown since 2013 and continued to bring on CSL to conduct a study.

“CSL has conducted and finalized a feasibility study to provide recommendations on the potential closure of Crown arena and theatre,” said Trent Merritt, regional vice president for Spectra Venue Management in a public meeting on Wednesday, Sept 15. 

Currently the complex includes five venues of different sizes hosting about 195 events per year.

The number one complaint at the Crown is the quality of the facility, and that’s why people choose not to come back, Crown Complex General Manager Jim Grafstrom said.

The report findings recommend a 89,000 square ft. space with 2,075 seats as recommended capacity and 2,500 seats maximum capacity. The study averaged the cost of the new project between $75 million to $80 million.

Other considerations in the section include 10 VIP six-seat boxes and 200 VIP memberships, one grand lobby, three meeting classrooms, four dressing rooms, 22 concession points of sale, 50 water closets and urinals, four dressing rooms, state-of the art audio, lighting, video and power among other features. 

“One of the things that I think is really exciting about this facility aside from this being a multi-purpose center is it gives us the ability to do a wide variety of events, we have side meeting rooms, it can be used as a conference center and more,” Grafstrom said. “And in my opinion you do deserve this.”

The report’s site analysis found downtown Fayetteville to be the most feasible and desirable area for the project, followed by the Crown Complex and then the outer loop of Fayetteville. The analysis considered the locations based on the appeal to customers and community stakeholders, accessibility, size, demographics, funding and project development. 

The current timeline for the development according to the study says project funding is scheduled between late 2021 and early 2022, followed by the option to hire owners by mid 2022, site selection and purchase latest by early 2023, and design and documentation by late 2023. The construction schedule is estimated for mid-2024 to early 2025, with the event venue opening to the public by Nov. 2025.

The 200-page Market and Financial Feasibility report can be found here http://www.crowncomplexnc.com/assets/doc/Cumberland-County-Multi-Purpose-Event-Center_Feasibility-Study_9.15.21-ebbe11b6af.pdf