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Crown Event Center

The Crown Complex, located at 1960 Coliseum Drive, Fayetteville is comprised of five venues, including a 2,440-seat Theatre and 4,500-seat Arena that opened in 1967; and a 10,880-seat Coliseum, 60,000-square-foot Expo Center and 9,200-square-foot Ballroom that opened in 1997.

The original Crown Theatre and Arena must close by November 2025, and the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners has approved the construction of a new state-of-the-art multipurpose event center (the Crown Event Center) to replace these facilities. The Crown Event Center will be located in Downtown Fayetteville at the intersection of Gillespie Street and Ottis F. Jones Parkway on the block between the County’s Historic Courthouse and the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse.

In early 2022, the Board of Commissioners hired MBP Carolinas as the owner’s representative for the project and established a three-member Crown Event Center Committee, which includes Commissioner Jimmy Keefe, who chairs the committee, Board of Commissioners Chairman Glenn Adams and Commissioner Jeannette Council. Cumberland County Civic Center Commission Chairman McBryde Grannis serves on the Committee in an ex-officio capacity. A Project Delivery Team (PDT) was also established, comprised of key County staff and representation from MBP Carolinas, current Crown Complex Manager Oak View Group (OVG), project architect EwingCole and Construction Manager-at-Risk (CMaR) TA Loving/Metcon.

The Crown Event Center Committee held a kick-off meeting for the new Crown Event Center project on April 20, 2022. On Sept. 6, 2022, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners approved guiding principles for the project following an engagement process that included members of a Community Engagement Committee comprised of representation from current users of the Crown Complex, community members, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, the business community, and municipal and civic leaders.

The guiding principles are a set of value statements intended to establish a common direction for the project and inform decision-making throughout the project.

graphic outlining guiding principles for crown event center

The County hired EwingCole as the project architect in November 2022. Once on board, EwingCole engaged the Community Engagement Committee and other stakeholders to provide feedback on what they believe needs to be included in the new Crown Event Center to make it successful. This information was incorporated into the Conceptual Design process, which resulted in the Board of Commissioners approving a building program of 131,500 square feet and an updated project budget of $131,703,300 on May 15, 2023. The Board approved a Schematic Design on Aug. 15, 2023.

TA Loving/Metcon was brought on as CmaR in September 2023, and the PDT began working with the CMaR to reconcile project cost and schedule. On Jan. 16, 2024, the PDT provided an update to the Crown Event Center Committee that the cost of building the new Crown Event Center had increased due to a larger building program and unprecedented escalation in certain trade areas. The Crown Event Center Committee directed the PDT to redesign the facility to fit within a total project budget of $145 million. On Jan. 23, 2024, the PDT presented a redesigned facility with a building program totaling 134,000 square feet and the Committee authorized the PDT to continue moving forward with the redesigned facility. The PDT estimates breaking ground on the new facility in September 2024 with construction completed in early 2027, however the team will continue working to shorten the timeline to complete the facility as early as possible.

Additional information related to the project and the Crown Event Center Committee will be posted on this page throughout the duration of the project.

Feasibility Study Presentation

Crown Complex

Feasibility Study

Committee Agendas & Minutes

Crown Event Center Committee Considers Next Steps in Construction of New Multipurpose Event Center

May 17, 2022, 10:07 AM by User Not Found

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Cumberland County’s Crown Event Center Committee met on May 16 to continue moving forward with the process of constructing a new multipurpose event center to replace the Crown Theatre and Arena. During the meeting, the Committee discussed the guiding principles for the project, along with the role and composition of the community engagement committee, and the process for narrowing down potential locations for the new facility.

Matthew DeSilver, senior project manager with MBP, which has been hired by County as the owner’s representative, went over a set of proposed guiding principles for the project and asked for feedback from the three Cumberland County commissioners who serve on the Crown Event Center Committee – Committee Chairwoman Jeannette Council and Commissioners Jimmy Keefe and Glenn Adams. He said the proposed guiding principles were intended to serve as a starting point for discussion with the Community Engagement Committee, which will be comprised of various project stakeholders and will be asked to provide input regarding the Guiding Principles and Programmatic Function of the new facility.

DeSilver asked the commissioners to review and provide feedback on the proposed guiding principles along with a list of additional stakeholders they wished to see represented on the Community Engagement Committee by this Friday, May 20.

Once the Community Engagement Committee is established, they will be asked to review the draft guiding principles and provide input and feedback during a workshop in early June. That feedback will then be reported back to the Crown Event Center Committee, which will recommend a final set of guiding principles to be sent to the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners for approval.

The commissioners expressed a desire to be inclusive while also making sure the project continues to move forward. In addition to the Community Engagement Committee, community stakeholders and citizens will also have the opportunity to provide feedback on what they would like to see from the new facility, both electronically and during a public hearing in the near future.

Monday’s meeting also served as the kickoff for the site review process. Joe Hines with Timmons Group, which has been brought in to assist MBP with site review, outlined the process for the Committee.

During the site review geographic area analysis, Hines said Timmons Group will review four sub-areas across the areas included in the Market & Financial Feasibility Study. They will examine the potential benefits and drawbacks of each area and compile the information into a decision matrix to bring back to the committee. Hines said he is hopeful this will be done within the next 30 to 45 days.

He said he will come back to the Crown Event Center Committee with a recommendation on a general area and that once the Committee approves the general area, Timmons Group will go back and look at several parcels in that general area to recommend the best location for the facility.

In addition to finalizing the guiding principles and moving forward with site review, DeSilver said MBP is also working to finalize the design and construction RFQ in order to be ready to move forward with an architect once the guiding principles are established.

For more information about the feasibility study, visit crowncomplexnc.com/about/management/csl-market-and-feasibility-study or for Cumberland County government visit cumberlandcountync.gov.

Contact Us


Phone:	910-678-7724	Address: 117 Dick Street Fayetteville, NC, NC 28301


Email:
Contact:	Brian Haney, Assistant County Manager

Contact Us


Phone:	910-678-7724
Email:
Contact:	Brian Haney, Assistant County Manager
Address:	117 Dick Street Fayetteville, NC, NC 28301