A ghost town at Carolina Crossroads

For those not from the area, Roanoke Rapids is the leftovers of a town that lost all of its industries and small businesses during the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, the town has lost all of its drive to be anything more than a town for younger people to leave, and for older people to retire.

Carolina Crossroads and The Roanoke Rapids Theatre were built in the small town just a few years ago. The plan was to help stimulate the economy and add a new set of venues for the state. Judging by the lack of progress that I've seen from both places, it seems safe for me to say that my hometown has, yet again, made a faulty investment.

The two venues sit like two gleaming--but empty--jewels, filled only with false hopes and promises due to their lack of shows and poor attendance rates. In my opinion, the venues have failed for three fundamental reasons.

One: Most of the shows have been country acts. If two sibling venues are going to open up next to each other, they should not host only one style of performance?they should have Hank Williams, Jr. one week and Slipknot the next. The idea that this would be an all country music venue is horrible, because a venue should bring in all music genres and appeal to many demographics. The Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek in Raleigh has variety. Their events range from comedians to bands including Metallica, Madonna and Cobra Starship. The only event that wasn't country music at Carolina Crossroads was the Boston and Styx performance a few months ago. This effort was too little too late and failed at making a decent first impression.

Two: They advertise the events as if the citizens in Halifax Co. are going to be the only ones that show up. When I saw the Boston and Styx flyers on the kiosk at Mendenhall, I felt a little bit of pride that the baby venue took its first steps beyond local advertising. If I were in charge of calling attention to the venues, I would make every event sound like the announcement of the Rolling Stones final show ever, in the format of a radio ad for a monster truck show. Building the venues right off of Highway 95 should not have been the main advertising tactic.

Three: Roanoke Rapids is centered around nothing. As I've told many people who have asked, it's the perfect place for hopelessness and despair. The officials of Roanoke Rapids should have spent the $21.5 million they borrowed on making the small town into a small city with ample business. Opening something more than another chain store on the strip mall beside Wal-Mart would have been the better investment. For example, look at Raleigh or Virginia Beach. These two places draw business through industries and geographical locations. The top-notch venues are just additions to the wealth they pull in every year. Maybe if the town had jobs that paid higher salaries, then the people could spend their money more freely on the tickets.

The venues need a good management system to start booking more shows and appealing to a wider audience. Until that time, Carolina Crossroads and The Roanoke Rapids Theatre are to be seen as just two quick attempts to spark life into a dead old town.

This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.