Expansions underway: Cape Fear Regional Theatre awaits city decision regarding support for Phase II of renovations to their facilities

By Stephanie Meador, posted Jun 29, 2023 on BizFayetteville.com

PHOTO PROVIDED BY CFRT - A rendering of the current plans for the CFRT’s fully renovated facility located on the CFRT campus at 1209 Hay Street.

Cape Fear Regional Theatre is looking to expand their facility and offerings in the community as progress continues on their capital campaign to renovate and redesign their current building.
CFRT finished Phase I of renovations to their auditorium in 2021 which featured new seats, wider rows, a new sound system and improvements to accessibility. The rest of the building has not been renovated since 1988 according to CFRT Managing Director Ella Wrenn. The Theatre is now moving into Phase II, an expansion on the current building which will feature two new classrooms, additional event spaces, updated accessibility and “a new-and-improved customer experience” according to information on the project.

Phase II was always part of the initial goal, and the staff at CFRT were cognizant of the long term goals they had for the space early on. “Knowing that the space needed some attention, and also that the organization of the infrastructure could better serve the rapid growth of the institution, we did a master plan for Phase II at the same time that we were doing Phase I so that we made sure we didn’t spend money twice… And so that sort of was the genesis of knowing that Phase II was coming, and then we’re now looking at breaking ground in June of 2024,” shared Wrenn.

In January, CFRT submitted a request for $500,000 a year for five years to the City Council to fund further expansions for a new building. At the time of this article’s publication, the unapproved budget has a commitment of $250,000 allocated annually to the Cape Fear Regional Theatre.

Patrons of the arts young and old joined representatives of Cape Fear Regional Theatre at the June 12 Fayetteville City Council meeting to advocate that the city provide financial support for the continued expansion of their facilities.

The Theatre began fundraising in 2020 which brought them $1 million to complete Phase I of their renovations. Since then, the Theatre has raised $10.5 million for their new building and speakers came forward to urge the Council to adjust their budget to help them fully fund the project, citing the economic impact the new facility could have in the area.

“The Phase II project will generate $47 million in direct and induced spending and contribute toward creating a vibrant place for economic recruitment and retention. With your $2.5 million commitment now CFRT will reach its full potential as a world class theatre ensuring that world class art won’t be a world away,” shared Wrenn at the public hearing. “The renovated building will be a jewel for our community. It will take our cloistered former movie theater and make it into a transparent beautiful hub for the arts. We have grown 15 percent and now serve 50,000 people annually, the same as organizations with two and three times our operating budget.”

CFRT is currently working with SfL+a Architects on the expansion plans. Wrenn shared that they are just beginning to engage with other partners for things such as engineering evaluations and other project specifics. Wrenn also added that based on this iteration of building diagrams, they expect to add 40 percent to the building’s square footage.

The Theatre needs an overall total of about $20 million to complete Phase II.

“The goal is to be able to meet some of the growth [we’re seeing]… like right now all of our summer camps sold out in record time and we have waitlists that are 25 kids deep. And our hope would be to be able to expand the reach of the education program across a variety of different programs–studio classes, our touring production that goes into elementary schools, and sort of make that deeper so that we can reach more kids [and] serve more of the community,” remarked Wrenn.

Almost 200 people came out to the city council meeting held June 12 to support the Theatre. Supporters were asked to wear black and were given green stickers to accessorize and state the Theatre’s mission. Some attendees brought posters as well featuring stats regarding the impact CFRT has had on the community.

“We were all incredibly moved… and I think that really demonstrates the deep love that the community has for Cape Fear Regional Theatre, and also that this is the theatre’s moment. We have not asked for support from the city in more than 20 years. We’re self-sustaining. We’re doing the work. We’re reaching audiences that are bigger and more diverse than the national average at the moment and when you’re on the ground, reaching the community, listening to the community, serving the community, the community will back you up,” shared Wrenn. “…I think we all felt like this is why, this is why to do anything, why to do shows, why to build a new building, why to expand the reach, is the people that you get to serve.”

CFRT Artistic Director Mary Kate Burke also spoke at the city council meeting.

“We have a three year plan that will enable us to continue producing and teaching our classes while the building is under construction,” stated Burke. “With your support at $2.5 million, we will break ground at this time next year on route to opening this incredible facility in the fall of 2025. But without the fully funded request for this project, it will be delayed.”

Following the completion of Phase II, the Theatre will be able to serve a larger audience not only in house but through external projects as well.

“What is exciting to us is, since the beginning, the thesis has been with more space, we can serve more people…one of the things that expansion is going to do is create more square footage in our scene shop, which is great for our own internal building purposes, but also it creates additional capacity for CFRT to use our equipment and our very skilled technicians to do other work within the community like the big ARTS letters outside of the Arts Council were built at CFRT by our people. The entrance facade to The Night Circus New Year’s Eve party was also built here. And so having more space will mean that we could do more of that sort of community work and outreach and even stuff for private events,” added Wrenn.

Councilman D.J. Haire informed the public before the hearing began that the Council wouldn’t be voting whether to adopt the current budget at the time, citing concerns in other areas that will need further review before a decision is made.

The council has not yet formally voted on the city’s budget, but a decision will be made by the end of June.

When asked if this was the final phase or if there was a Phase III in the plans as well, Wrenn stated that while the CFRT leadership team are always looking to see where they can do more, they’re focusing their attention and energy on Phase II and “making it the best and the most successful that it can be knowing that Phase II will be enough to set the institution up for great success.”

Copyright © 2026 Enhanced Media Management Inc. dba Greater Fayetteville Business Journal
This story may be displayed, reformatted and printed for your personal, noncommercial use only and in accordance with our Terms of Service located at https://bizfayetteville.com/useragreement.