The historic Carolina Theatre in Charlotte, N.C.

Michael Marsicano is president and CEO of Foundation for the Carolinas and Curt Walton is vice president, real estate and facilities management. The foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the nation, is restoring the historic Carolina Theatre in Charlotte, N.C., one of 26 Knight communities. 

The Carolina Theatre opened with great fanfare in 1927 in the heart of downtown Charlotte, N.C. (an area we now call “Uptown”). Originally a grand movie palace, the theater featured an eight-rank Wurlitzer organ and air conditioning, which few residents had ever experienced at the time. Related Link

“Charlotte’s Carolina Theatre at Belk Place to become a hub for community connections and civic participation with $550,000 from Knight Foundation” – press release (12/22/2014)

For more than 50 years the theater served as a pivotal component of our urban and cultural fabric, hosting such talent as Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and, most famously, Elvis Presley.

Like many historic theaters of its era, the Carolina was shuttered in the late 1970s, as large, technologically advanced cinemas began opening in the suburbs. The theater has remained mostly vacant ever since, a ghost of its former grandeur, its neglected shell an anomaly in the otherwise vibrant center city. We see that as an opportunity.

We want to reinvent the Carolina Theatre as Charlotte’s premier civic engagement space, and $550,000 in new funding from Knight Foundation will help us accomplish that. Knight’s support will fund our research into the programming, technology and architectural design needed to maximize accessibility and citizen engagement.

The Carolina Theatre is directly adjacent to Foundation for the Carolinas’ headquarters, a thriving hub for philanthropy and civic activity. We host hundreds of meetings and events each month, from nonprofit board meetings and fundraisers to large community gatherings and celebrations. The theater itself can become a platform for the multitude of voices within our community.

Previously, Knight invested in a plan to re-energize uptown Charlotte’s North Tryon corridor, and  the Carolina Theatre can be one of the catalysts for this major community transformation.

Our vision is to create an accessible venue for citizens to engage in dialogue, hear from renowned speakers, vote on community issues, and find fellowship with individuals and groups from across Charlotte. The theater will be our community’s home for crowdsourcing, idea sharing and collaboration. It will operate under the name Carolina Theatre at Belk Place to honor the family thathas modeled these ideals for decades and helped make this project possible.

In addition to civic and educational opportunities, the Carolina Theatre will offer entertainment as a secondary focus. The varied events that will be curated for this space call for the ability to have flexible space configurations, high-end technology and user-friendly community engagement tools.

Carolina Theatre sits at the literal intersection of accomplishment and promise, as well as the figurative intersection of commerce and civic engagement. We seek to create a place where people can come as they are to think, share and learn—and create an even greater Charlotte.