Shortly after I landed in Fayetteville all those years ago, I discovered the city’s arts scene. I loved it.
I saw splendid plays at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, great local exhibits at the Arts Council — one of the pioneers in downtown’s renaissance and the force that created Fourth Friday — and a few years later, got to see terrific films at the cheery, cozy Cameo Art House Theater (yet another pioneer).
Exciting gallery displays, including national touring shows, were regular features at the Fayetteville Museum of Art. And some world-class talent regularly performed at venues within the Crown Complex — my all-time favorite was the night Elton John mesmerized his audience with a soaring solo performance in 2000 that was a tuneup for a national tour.
Today, that arts scene is even better, thanks to the visionary decision to create Festival Park, the arrival of more theater groups, and our two universities bringing arts and artists to the community and giving them space to shine.
There’s a lot to celebrate, as we talk about the arts scene.
And sadly, there’s also too much to mourn.
The Fayetteville Museum of Art, beset by financial challenges, closed its doors for good 15 years ago. It was a dreadful loss for the community, a cultural hole that’s never been filled. The museum had a good collection of its own, and it also attracted touring exhibits of renowned artists. I still have a vivid memory of the last exhibition I saw there, a wonderful collection of Ansel Adams photographs that was touring the country.
And then there were all those musical performances at the Crown Theatre, which was already old and shabby by the time I arrived, back in 1999, but great music always transcends its venue. But it can’t do that when shabbiness descends into dangerous deterioration, which is where the old theater is today.
We had, for a while, an exciting answer. The county was finally going to put an entertainment venue where the Crown Coliseum should have gone back in the 1990s — downtown. It was exciting to see the site preparation work begin, a loud and happy message that downtown’s mission as an arts and entertainment district was continuing to expand. Think about it: You could head downtown for an early dinner at a good restaurant, then walk a block or two to the Crown Event Center for a show. And after, you could walk back to another venue for drinks and a snack before heading home. It’s the kind of thing you can do in a good city, and Fayetteville was adding just the right touches to become that good city.
But it appears that things went awry with the event center project and costs were out of control. The county commissioners decided against taking firm control of the initiative and instead killed it in June, walking away with vague aspirations for renovating the old Crown Theatre instead. That’s not a good or satisfying answer. It’s not just real estate that’s about location, location and location. The arts need good locations too, and the Crown Complex isn’t it. Think about it: The Crown is out there at the city’s edge, near the airport, in a neighborhood notable mostly for industrial buildings, shabby old motels and a sprinkling of fast-food joints.
The county built the theater, the arena and the expo center when US 301 was the main route through Fayetteville. It was a bustling commercial corridor. That was before I-95 came along and took away all that traffic that once ran through 301. Since then, the area has been in decline — bad enough that there are true stories out there about professional job-seekers who landed at the airport and decided against moving here because of the dilapidated landscape they saw on the way into the city.
Bottom line: An event center belongs downtown, not out at the city’s ragged edge.
And while we’re talking about arts venues, let’s also discuss what we need to do to resurrect the Fayetteville Museum of Art. The city needs to have a first-class showplace for art, preferably also downtown, to benefit from the synergy that comes from a vibrant arts-and-entertainment district.
We’re really only a few pieces away from making downtown a grand arts mecca, a thriving district that can draw visitors from afar — yes, maybe even forcing arts and music fans to make a pilgrimage to Fayetteville from their homes in the Triangle.
The support for that idea is there. So is the enthusiasm. All that’s missing is visionary leadership.
Read CityView Magazine’s “The Arts & Culture Issue” October 2025 e-edition here.
