$83 million Live Performance Venue concept shown to regional leaders
Authority that built new sports and events center considers “phase two” for proposed entertainment district
Community members and local arts groups have pushed for a dedicated live performance venue in Williamsburg for decades. Turns out the idea is so good, the region should actually build two, including an indoor performance theater and a separate outdoor amphitheater. And both can be had for just $80 million, give or take a few million.
That’s the pitch the consortium of contractors that built the region’s new sports complex brought to the board of the Historic Triangle Recreational Facilities Authority on Wednesday morning. The board is made up of representatives from Williamsburg, James City and York counties. The presentation for the live performance venue came just a few weeks after the grand opening of the Greater Williamsburg Sports & Events Center.
The unveiled idea calls for an $83 million venue combining a 68,000-square-foot indoor performance center with a 90,000-square-foot outdoor amphitheater on the same site located next to the sports center. At the center of the current proposal is what the potential developers are calling a hybrid venue, pairing an indoor performance hall with an outdoor amphitheater that share a single back-of-house operation, including loading docks, hospitality space and green rooms, in order to hold down construction costs.
The proposal was delivered at the authority’s July 8 meeting by Rick Hibbett, Client Engagement Practice Leader at Clark Nexsen, representing a consortium of companies. Wednesday’s session was informational and no formal action was taken. The presentation was framed as the beginning of a longer process needed to evaluate the idea and arrange funding if approved.
Key facts and figures for proposed Live Performance Venue:
Costs:
Live Performance Venue: $75,389,297
Theater Equipment: $6,437,877
F&B Equipment: $1,260,000
Scope:
68,000-square-foot Indoor Performance Center
1,000 seated / 1,700 general admission capacity
500 fixed seats and 500 portable seats
First and second level fixed seating
90,000-square-foot Outdoor Amphitheater
1,100 seated / 3,900 lawn capacity, 8% rake
Cross paths for pedestrian flow and safety
Hibbett spoke of the new venue as phase two of a single vision. The sports center, he told the authority, was never meant to be the end of the story. It was the opening act. That broader vision, according to Hibbett, has deep roots, tracing through decades of community studies and a local advocacy group that has pushed for a dedicated venue since the 1990s, and picking up renewed momentum in 2022, when a sports center proposal first sketched out the site’s larger potential.
Developers cited market studies projecting steady attendance and modest profitability, driven largely by the amphitheater, and pointed to a recent fireworks display that drew a capacity crowd as evidence of demand. Supporters call the project a natural extension of the sports center’s success, which many noted in a video Hibbett played highlighting regional arts groups. Skeptics question the reliability of feasibility studies funded by parties with a stake in approval and the validity of financial projections.
If approved, the project would need 24 to 25 months of design and construction, putting the earliest opening more than two years out. Board discussion afterward focused on logistics, including how the new venue would coexist with ongoing sports center programming on the shared site. The authority is expected to continue reviewing the proposal in upcoming meetings with both elected officials and the public though no schedule was announced.
Mr. Doe,
I'm all for reasons to visit Williamsburg but dead set against using taxpayer money or their credit (via issuing bonds) to finance a commercial entertainment business.
Companies like Live Nation, currently are investing over $1 billion in both new small entertainment performance venues and larger amphitheaters, would be a good solution... if, of course, they thought it would be financially viable.
Taxpayer money is for schools, public safety, etc.
As for new sports center, let's talk again in 2 years and look at the math.
If these facilities are such a wonderful and needed idea, Williamsburg/CW can lease the land and collect ticket taxes at no risk while letting private operators/capital build and operate the business. Area taxpayers are still processing the mad rush to fund and build a sports center...which is designed to operate at a loss from day 1.
It's highly doubtful that any incremental hotel room taxes from sports/event tourism will cover the expected losses.