Press Release
What's New in Raleigh in 2005 and Beyond
Media Contact: Jim Lee, DCI ( 312) 202-0507;
jim.lee@dc-intl
NEW ON THE ARTS SCENE
NEIGHBORHOOD SCULPTURE WALK
Raleigh artist and lecturer Joel Haas has created a Neighborhood Sculpture Walk located in the Wilmont neighborhood, surrounded by Meredith College and NC State University. The walk takes visitors through this historic residential neighborhood where 16 original sculptures of varying shapes and sizes are prominently displayed. With names like The Guard Bug, The Yellow Bug Flying Machine, Red Skeleton Overdoes it on the Nordic Trak and Punk Stegasaurus, walkers are likely to get a hearty laugh along with a daily dose of culture.
NC MUSEUM OF ART'S NEWEST PERMANENT PIECE
On March 27, 2005, internationally acclaimed North Carolina artist, Patrick Dougherty, installed an environmental sculpture on the grounds of the North Carolina Museum of Art. Made from saplings, sticks and branches this sculpture will be a "shelter of transition" that evokes architectural structures, cocoons, nests, or vessels. It will be in place for several years, until Mother Nature naturally dismantles the work. www.ncartmuseum.org
MUSEUM PARK TRAIL
Raleigh is home to more than 450 miles of trails, and on April 16, 2005, the greenways "grew" as a pedestrian bridge completed the Museum Park Trail. Connecting the NC Museum of Art's Museum Trail with the rest of Raleigh's park system, this will provide easy access to the mile-long Museum Trail featuring two towering works by North Carolina artists -- a 24-foot-tall sculpture, Gyre by Raleigh artist Tomas Sayre and a 35-foot high wind machine by Vollis Simpson of Lucama. www.ncartmuseum.org
NEW BLOCKBUSTER ART EXHIBIT
Monet and Normandy: From October 15, 2006 - January 14, 2007, the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) will house a collection of 40-50 paintings by Claude Monet in a blockbuster show entitled Monet and Normandy. Claude Monet's images of Normandy are regarded by art historians as revolutionary, embodying a new vision that assures him a place among the giants of art. The show will be the first scholarly exhibition to focus on the French province where Monet spent most of his life and created the majority of his paintings. Spanning the artist's entire career, the exhibition will feature NCMA's two Monet's depicting Normandy's coastal and interior borders as well some of his most celebrated images of poppy fields and haystacks, Rouen's magnificent cathedral, and the artist's own splendid gardens at Giverny. The paintings are on loan from public and private collections around the U.S., Canada, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Japan, and will make three stops in the US, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (June 17 – September 17, 2006) Raleigh and The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 18 – May 20, 2007).
NEW MUSEUM EXPANSION
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has announced the Green Square Project, a $100 million project that will feature a four-story research arm of the museum designed to educate the public on the latest work in genetics, dinosaurs and natural sciences. Opening in late 2008, this new venture will be connected to the existing museum by a glassed-in skyway and will have multimedia displays, digital theaters and labs where scientists can work side by side with visitors.
NEW RETAIL WONDERS
NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY STORE: The North Carolina Symphony's newest venture will debut this spring. Located in North Hills, the unique gift shop will offer merchandise and memorabilia from the NC Symphony, NC Museum of Art and NC Museum of History. The new box office will also sell visitors performance tickets. www.ncsymphony.org/news/detail.cfm?nid=138
THE FACTORY AT WAKE FOREST: Downtown Wake Forest has a new tenant and it's not your typical mall. The 200,000 square foot building encompasses retail stores, restaurants and one of the area's premier sporting facilities featuring the only twin sheet ice rink between Washington, DC and Orlando, FL! The facility also includes indoor soccer fields, batting cages, driving ranges and basketball courts. Work is also underway for a state of the art skate park – a true "must-hit" for any visiting teenagers. www.eatshopplay.com/
NEW LUXURY PROPERTIES TO OPEN IN 2006
RENAISSANCE HOTEL AT NORTH HILLS
Construction will begin in January for a 200-room hotel that will anchor North Hills' new mixed-use district of three city blocks. Completion is expected in spring 2007. The new property, built by Raleigh-based Concord Hospitality Enterprises Co., will feature12 luxury suites and a club level, 10,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 6,000 square foot ballroom, and an upscale restaurant. Guests will have access to a new $3 million Gold's Gym Athletic Club and Natural Body Spa (a European-style day spa).
THE UMSTEAD
Considered Raleigh's first boutique hotel, this 150-room property will feature a 12,000-square-foot spa. As an independent hotel, locally owned and developed by Ann Goodnight, wife of SAS Institute co-founder Jim Goodnight, the hotel could cost as much as $70 million. It will be located on the campus of SAS Institute beside a three-acre lake, and boast 17 five-star suites, 7,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, a sculpture garden, 350 parking spaces under the hotel and a first class restaurant and cafe. Construction began in October 2004 and is slated to open in late 2006.
WESTIN AT CRABTREE VALLEY
Guests can soon enjoy this 260-room hotel with a heated outdoor pool and fitness spa, located near one of the Carolina's largest malls at Crabtree Valley. Rooms will come equipped with 42-inch plasma TVs, goose-down bedding and oversize baths. The $30 million renovation of the former Four Points Sheraton Crabtree is projected to open in late 2007, and will be the second Westin in North Carolina.
NEW RALEIGH CONVENTION CENTER SLATED TO OPEN IN 2008
The City of Raleigh and Wake County have approved plans to build a new 500,000-square-foot downtown convention center, 212,000 square feet of functional space and four-star convention-headquarters Marriott hotel, scheduled to open in early 2008. The existing convention center, will be demolished. They will use $212 million in interlocal funds for the two projects -- $192 million for the new convention center and $20 million for construction of public use spaces in the 400-room, $58 million Marriott hotel developed by Stormont-Noble Development of Atlanta.
RALEIGH LANDS MEAC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 2006-2008
The 2006-2008 Division I Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament is headed to Raleigh's RBC Center. Richmond had hosted the event since 1998.The MEAC is made up of 11 historically black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Bethune-Cookman College, Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Howard University, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University and South Carolina State University.
It is projected the March 6-11, 2006, MEAC Tournament will attract 55,000 fans and generate 5,500 hotel room nights, with a projected economic impact on the area of $4.4 million. Though different tournaments in many respects, local officials do hope to grow the event much like CIAA's economic impact surged from $7.8 million in 2000 to $12.0 million in 2005.
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