New Downtown Venue

Flat Rock Playhouse is excited to announce its new downtown location. The Hendersonville City Council approved an allocation of $100,000 to assist in the renovation of a space located at 125 South Main Street. The existing 9,500 square foot office space will be converted into a 225-250 seat performance space. The front facade of the building will be altered and an attractive entrance will be constructed to give the theatre a strong presence on Main Street. The Playhouse hopes that the new location will serve as a "gateway" to downtown Hendersonville.

The venue will be launched with a limited performance schedule for 2011 and will expand to six months of performances in 2012 and nine months in 2013. By expanding the programming, the Playhouse will have the opportunity to welcome an additional 50,000 to 75,000 patrons annually, who will bring with them an economic impact to local downtown businesses of as much as four million dollars per year.

The project has been in the works for a year-and-a-half, ever since the Playhouse made the decision to use the Historic Henderson County Courthouse for productions such as 12 Angry Men, A Few Good Men and Live from WVL: It's A Wonderful Life. "There was a hope that a groundswell would develop that would carry The State Theatre to a permanent presence downtown. In the search for a suitable space to use temporarily this past summer we were shown a perfect building in a prefect location. The building required a long term lease. The building owner, the Fazio family, understood the importance of a venue on Main Street and preferred their building be used for this purpose rather than simply renting it as office space, offered Playhouse Board President, Chris Ricker.

"The Fazio family was very kind to develop an attractive lease agreement with us that allows us, over the next three years, to develop the venue," said Producing Artistic Director Vincent Marini. "The Fazio's wanted to explore ways of making the building available while accommodating our plans for a permanent location, in addition to opening the door for other businesses to collaborate and support this new artistic adventure. For us, this was a clear demonstration of their support and their belief in the validity of the project. It is our hope that with the assistance of the City and the Fazio family, other strategic partners will step to the table to help us realize our mutual goal of enhancing Main Street's position as a true destination location.

The plan is to execute the renovation in stages. The first goal is to create a usable "work-in-progress" where the space can be utilized as a theatrical venue during 2011, until a more well-planned and collaborative renovation can be executed.