Great to see Charlotte’s various arts groups finally notice that Spirit Square is being sold out from underneath them and that the Uptown crowd doesn’t much care what happens next. They got the $160 million Wachovic Arts Tower coming, after all.
Here’s some loud-mouth naysayer from two years ago on the topic:
The banks seem to think the primary goal of Charlotte culture is to reassure bank execs up for transfers from San Francisco or Boston that the Queen City is not a wasteland; that shows and attractions found in bigger cities will show up here too.
Certainly, there is a disconnect between what some in the local arts community say is needed and what Charlotte’s emerging uptown-centric plan provides. The explicit move to build shiny new venues and then tell the independent arts groups to find their own way to pay to use those buildings builds in a bias away from community, non-profit arts groups and towards big touring productions. Charlotte already has arts venues which local groups cannot afford to use, unable to pay for the professional backstage help that the city’s art power brokers have put in place. Talent, time, and enthusiasm the artsy locals have. Hard cash, not so much.
And since the middle of last year it has been clear that Spirit Square was on the chopping block, a really nifty move by the county considering that First Baptist Church is a historical landmark and all.
Given that the end of Spirit Square as an arts venue is a done deal and all — this is Charlotte — here’s two nutty ideas to replace the space.
Give the old African-American Cultural Center to community arts groups when the new African-American Cultural Center comes online. Or, how about tell the historical commission that the AME Grace Zion church the county paid $1.3 million for early last year — or roughly twice what it was worth — will be the New Spirit Square.
Either fix is a reach, but the community arts groups need to be, well, creative or they are going to get steamrolled.
I suggest some embarassing street theater Uptown. Something loud, disruptive and bad for Charlotte’s world class image. Otherwise — Steam. Roll.
