The Carolina Civic Center Historic Theater originally opened in 1928 as a vaudeville and silent film house. Now, nearly 100 years later, the space is growing to attract and accommodate an even bigger population. 

The Theater began construction of its 8,200 square foot annex addition in September 2024. Executive Director of the Carolina Civic Center Foundation Richard Sceiford explained that this expansion was needed to meet the growth the theater has seen over recent years.

“We have a small lobby. It’s an old theater, and trying to have 450 people buying concessions, tickets and otherwise getting into the auditorium from the same small lobby, [we realized] we needed to up our game,” remarked Sceiford.

The theater currently brings in 12-15,000 visitors per year for its performances, special events, rentals, etc. and this addition will greatly add to that. The facility will have a capacity in its event space of 260 people seated at tables, 390 with chairs, and 450 standing, while the new lobby will hold an additional 350 people standing. The annex also will contain concession, bar and ticketing counters, a bridal suite and changing room, catering kitchen and additional bathrooms and storage areas.

“Richard and the foundation have been working towards this annex project for years. It’s been something that our downtown efforts have recognized as an important driver for downtown businesses, downtown revitalization and it was actually in our downtown master plan that was adopted to council many years ago, which was just revised in the last year and readopted, to create activities, nodes of interest in the downtown, for tourism, for locals, for out of towners, to want to come to downtown, and so the Civic Center was one of those primary drivers,” shared Deputy City Manager for the City of Lumberton Brandon Love.

The new annex will be located on the existing theater’s south side (formerly a City of Lumberton public parking lot), with a pass through into the existing historic lobby. It will allow the theater to continue its success drawing people to downtown through expanded capacity and amenities. It also will expand the theater’s programming offerings to include pre- and post-show receptions, dinner theater and other special events. It also will be available for rental
events such as weddings, corporate special events and regional meetings and conferences.

“It’s a very contemporary building. It’s not meant to mimic the historic theater. So it has its own personality,” remarked Sceiford.
The site also will feature a fenced patio and alleyway seating area.
The raw cost of construction came in at $3.2 million. Once architect fees, environmental and furnishings were factored in, the total cost of the project came out to about $4 million, and that cost has been paid in full.
With its existing 450-seat theater and dressing rooms and offices, the expanded facility’s total size will be 30,000 square feet. The plan is to have the project completed mid-June, with an opening celebration mid-August.

“We’re close. The addition itself, I would say, is 80% complete, and we're kind of to that point where we are going to punch through and connect the addition to the historic theater. So that is kind of a big piece that’s left” shared Project Architect Ethan Page.

Lumberton is experiencing a lot of development, and Deputy City Manager Love hopes that projects like the Civic Center Annex will catalyze further growth in the downtown area.

“It’s been a goal of mine and of our Main Street group for probably the last eight or 10 years, to be in a position at some point in our downtown revitalization efforts, to be able to host a main street conference, the North Carolina Main Street Conference, or the North Carolina Preservation Conference. I don’t know that we’re quite there yet, but having a civic center annex is a big part of what will make us competitive at being able to win one of those conferences here in Lumberton,” shared Love.

The grand opening celebration date has not yet been announced. To keep up to date with the North Carolina Civic Center Theater check out their website: www.carolinaciviccenter.com.