Striking renovation plans for Thomas Wolfe Auditorium unveiled; cost could reach $100M

ASHEVILLE - Just after its 80th birthday, the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium is looking for a major present: a complete renovation with a cost that could approach $100 million.

The overhaul would not only provide a permanent fix to the aging facility but also allow it to nab bigger shows, including smaller Broadway productions.

“We’re past the desperate need point,” said Chris Corl, general manager of the Harrah's Cherokee Center-Asheville, which encompasses the auditorium.

Corl spoke about the auditorium and a potential renovation earlier this month, ahead of a formal city meeting on Jan. 15 — in the auditorium itself — designed to serve as an unveiling of the plans.

And they are comprehensive.

A new look that pays homage to the original art deco

Plans call for a complete overhaul of the building, with all new seating, much improved loading and backstage areas, and a sparkling new facade facing Haywood Street. The proposed exterior would be "very modern looking," Corl said, but also would incorporate a stained glass panel and a marquee that pays homage to the Wolfe's original art deco touches.

The renovation also would result in a nifty triple-triple: three times as many restrooms, triple the food and beverage outlets, and three times more square footage in the lobby and common spaces.

Poor acoustics — a common complaint among concert-goers — also would be addressed.

"So the acoustic issue is that the room is too wide and too short, so we’re shrinking the width and getting taller,” Corl said. “How we’re doing that is taking out the current ceiling and putting an acoustically transparent one in.”

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The stage and the seating area near it would be 20 feet lower than the current setup.

“Now we’re able to create a two-balconied room instead of one,” Corl said.

Other improvements would include improved access to the building for tractor-trailers, modern fire escapes and new green rooms for entertainers.

Here's the cost of a renovated Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

None of this comes cheap.

"What I can tell you is an average either renovated or new-built performing arts center is about $100 million,” Corl said. “That would be pretty average.”

That's also the targeted number here. Corl's presentation estimates construction costs at $86 million and professional services such as design and engineering at $11 million, with another $3 million in "owner costs" and end of project adjustments.

Asheville City Council and other stakeholders, including Buncombe County and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, would have to get on board to make the project a reality.

Corl said the city would put a "heavy, heavy lean on the TDA," the entity that derives its funding from the hotel tax and in turn funds local projects designed to boost overnight stays in hotels.

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“My general vision is tapping the TDA for 60-70% of our needs,” Corl said. “And asking the city and the county for somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-10% each. That still leaves us with probably a 20% gap or less, (where we would be) looking for private sector funding.”

Could the TDA fund part of Thomas Wolfe renovations?

Stephanie Brown, president & CEO of Explore Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau, which oversees the TDA, said the organization looks forward "to learning more about the economic value and community benefits of this proposal."

The TDA disburses grants for projects through its Tourism Product Development Fund, a program that is governed by state law. The rules call for the TPDF committee to evaluate projects and then recommend them to the TDA for approval.

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"This project is a good fit for the mandate of the fund and the criteria that have been adopted by the board," Brown said.

The TDA's product development fund uses 25% of the tax revenue for tourism-related projects. The other 75% goes toward marketing the Asheville area to put more visitors in hotel rooms.

"The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority has provided almost $6 million of support for the ExploreAsheville.com Arena and Thomas Wolfe Auditorium from its Tourism Product Development Fund," Brown said. "This partnership with the city of Asheville has been beneficial for the community and consistent with the goals of the fund."

Brown noted the downtown complex has hosted "international sporting events and entertainment options that have been enjoyed by residents and have generated visitor spending at local businesses." Corl also touted the Fed Cup tennis tournament the arena hosted in 2018 and 2019.

The TDA has disbursed $44 million in Tourism Product Development Fund grants to 39 projects, "including the Wortham Center for Performing Arts, Montford Park Players and Asheville Community Theatre, as well as parks, greenways, museums, WNC Nature Center, sports facilities, infrastructure in the River Arts District, and so on. About $22 million has been granted to city of Asheville-owned projects," Brown said.

The hotel occupancy tax is the engine that keeps all this running. Created in 1983, the hotel tax has grown from 2 cents to 6 cents on the dollar.

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Brown said they are now involved a yearlong process on how to invest product development funds, working with the city and county to prioritize needs and possible opportunities.

"This process will prioritize the many needs and opportunities that have been proposed and will recommend a long-term strategy that strives to achieve the greatest community benefit possible," Brown said.

What about that other group's proposal?

Another group has been working on funding an all-new performing arts center in Asheville since the mid-2000s. The Performance Center in Asheville still has an active website.

"We are organizing a volunteer committee to lead the capital campaign," the website states. "Already, private donors have committed almost $5 million."

The Citizen Times could not reach board leaders for comment Jan. 15.

Corl said he and other officials have reached out to their board members. At one point, the organization had a full-time head and was scouting sites, with a new building estimated in the $85 million range.

“Some of their board members are very on board with this right now, and some of their board members are … we’ve had multiple meetings with them that ended with, ‘Wow, this will be a great facility to complement our performing arts center some day,'" Corl said. "It’s really frustrating to hear because I feel like we’re hitting everything, but we can’t have 'Phantom of the Opera.'"

The renovated Thomas Wolfe could host smaller Broadway shows, Corl stressed, along with another key factor: The city already owns the land and the building, and it has parking right next door in the Harrah’s Cherokee Center-Asheville Garage.

"We have land and parking," Corl said. "Two of the three big steps are gone for the city if we do it through this."

Auditorium in need of work

While renovations or upgrades have been floated for decades, the city did commit serious funds toward a Thomas Wolfe overhaul in 2017, when City Council approved $500,000 for initial design and budget development for a renovation.

In February 2019, the city hired a design team, Earl Swensson Associates Inc., based in Nashville, Tennessee, to complete a "stakeholder needs analysis, conceptual design and base budget." That firm has taken the lead on numerous other theater renovations, including the Charleston Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville.

The Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, which seats 2,431 people and dates to 1940, was last renovated 45 years ago, when the flat floor built to accommodate a basketball court was changed to a sloped floor. New seats were installed, but anyone who's been there knows the side balcony chairs aim at what used to be center court, not the stage.

The venue continues to draw nationally known acts such as comedian Dave Chappelle and musician Ray LaMontagne, who played shows late last year, but it's also had problems with a flaking ceiling, inadequate bathrooms and its HVAC system.

"The last three years we’ve spent $800,000 on Band-Aids – literally just to keep the doors open,” Corl said. “In December and early January of this year, we’re finishing a $140,000 Band-Aid to the heat.”

In November, the auditorium lost most of its heat in the seating area, requiring workers to blow in heat from another part of the building to avoid having to close. The facility still uses fuse boxes instead of modern electrical breakers, Corl said, and they had to spend $50,000 last summer to stabilize fire escape ladders to meet code.

Because of its age, the auditorium also does not have modern seating with clear views for Americans with Disability Act patrons.

"So the Wolfe is at the state where pretty soon there’s going to have to be some type of investment in it,” Corl said.

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By leaning heavily on the TDA, which has a recurring and plentiful funding source in the room tax, that takes some of the burden off taxpayers, Corl said.

If the TDA isn't interested and a smaller renovation goes forward, then the city's taxpayers likely would be on the hook for most or all of it, instead of 10-15%, Corl said.

So while $100 million may sound like an eye-popping number, Corl said he hopes residents will take a long view. The city could very well spend $20 million over two decades to keep the auditorium running and safe.

“Not only is it a bigger, better thing community-wise,” Corl said, “but it might be cheaper for the taxpayers to go bigger than go smaller, especially if you look at it long-term. In 20 years if we keep doing Band-Aids, we’re going to spend that much anyway.”