Partly cloudy skies. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..
Partly cloudy skies. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
The Peace Center on South Main Street in Greenville announced a $36 million expansion on Sept. 13, 2022. Part of the expansion includes transforming the historic Roe Coach Factory into a three-tiered flat-floor club. Provided/The Peace Center
The Peace Center COO Nick Tigue standing in front of the future location of the Coach Music Factory, a three-tiered flat-floor club coming to the center's campus as part of a $36 million expansion. Stephanie Mirah/Staff
The Peace Center on South Main Street in Greenville announced a $36 million expansion on Sept. 13, 2022. Part of the expansion includes turning the historic Gullick and Markley buildings on South Main Street into a listening room, artist dorm and recording studio. Provided/The Peace Center
The Peace Center on South Main Street in Greenville announced a $36 million expansion on Sept. 13, 2022. Part of the expansion includes transforming the historic Roe Coach Factory into a three-tiered flat-floor club. Provided/The Peace Center
GREENVILLE — The Peace Center announced a planned $36 million expansion on Sept. 13 to create opportunities for a wider range of performing arts.
It hopes to attract artists who would not perform on a traditional concert hall stage by adding a flat floor music club, a listening room, an artist dorm and a recording studio to its six-acre campus on South Main Street.
This update has been in the works since November 2019, Peace Center CEO Megan Riegel said during a news conference. It is the center's first major expansion since 2012.
The project will go in front of the city's Design Review Board on Oct. 6. This expansion is expected to start in February and be completed in late 2024.
Along South Main Street, past the main concert hall and Gunter Theater, The Peace Center owns two historic buildings known as Gullick and Markley. They will be renovated to become a listening room, artist dorm and recording studio.
The Mockingbird, the listening room within the white-brick building facing Main Street on the left, will hold approximately 250 people and include a bar. Riegel said it was important to note that it is not a building with a bar and a band, but rather “we’re going to be curating music on our stages on a regular basis.”
A window will be cut into the side of the building so passing pedestrians can see the shows happening within.
Above the Mockingbird will be a three-bedroom suite complete with a kitchen to be used by artists who perform at any of the Peace Center venues.
The Peace Center will transform the red-brick building to the right of The Mockingbird into a professional podcast and recording studio managed by the center that can be booked by artists.
The Peace Center on South Main Street in Greenville announced a $36 million expansion on Sept. 13, 2022. Part of the expansion includes turning the historic Gullick and Markley buildings on South Main Street into a listening room, artist dorm and recording studio. Provided/The Peace Center
Behind the Gunther Theater, the Roe Coach Factory will be transformed into a three-tiered flat-floor music club. Riegel compared the Coach Music Factory to Orange Peel in Asheville or the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.
"We have so many people who are so interested in that kind of music, music you listen to when you're on your feet. You're dancing, got a beer in your hands. That's what we're creating here," she said.
The bottom floor is presently where the restaurant Larkin's operates. The restaurant is relocating to Camperdown across the street.
The club will hold 1,300 people inside, and on a patio and second-floor outdoor balcony. Riegel anticipated the balcony will add another 200 people who can attend concerts on the TD Stage along the river.
"The larger the capacity, the bigger name artists you can get out there," Riegel said about the club’s influence on the TD Stage.
Riegel said that the Peace Center understood concerns about enclosing the Wyche Pavilion and changed the plan to keep it as an open-air venue. The renovations will mostly be aesthetic, with Riegel equating it to applying some “lipstick” to the building. There will be patio gardens on both ends of the pavilion along with a renovated Riverwalk along the backside near the Reedy River.
There is still debate over what to do inside the pavilion, but changes will likely include adding ceiling fans and cleaning up the concrete.
The Peace Center COO Nick Tigue standing in front of the future location of the Coach Music Factory, a three-tiered flat-floor club coming to the center's campus as part of a $36 million expansion. Stephanie Mirah/Staff
A commissioned study by the University of South Carolina estimated the Peace Center has an $80 million annual economic impact on the city of Greenville, Riegel said. She hoped this latest announcement would "ratchet that economic impact up even further."
"I think the wonderful thing about this project is the different kinds of music we're going to be able to attract, different kinds of artist we'll be able to attract, which means different audiences," Riegel said. "The more mix we can have, the better."
The current Peace Center campus came together over the span of many years. Three structures composed the original campus in 1990, including the main 2,115-seat concert hall, the 400-seat Gunter Theater and the Wyche Pavilion. In 2012, the campus did its first major expansion, adding restaurant Genevieve's, the TD Stage, the Huguenot Loft and the Ramsaur Studio.
Lynn Harton, chair of the Peace Center board and CEO of United Community Bank, reflected back to when the Peace family and community leaders had a vision to create the center and "drive cultural appreciation and also economic development."
He said the project has succeeded and called it "the real heart of the city."
Follow Stephanie Mirah on Twitter @stephaniemirah
Stephanie Mirah is a reporter for The Post and Courier Greenville.
The Post and Courier Greenville 1 N. Main St., 4th floor Greenville, SC 29601
News tips/online questions: webteam@postandcourier.com
Subscription questions: subserve@postandcourier.com
, Post and Courier, an Evening Post Publishing Newspaper Group. All rights reserved.