The City Lights Of Raleigh

Raleigh, N.C., just received a nice gift from Live Nation – a steel skeleton and fabric covering for a 5,000-seat amphitheatre – with the promise of allowing the live events company to book about two dozen shows per year at the venue.

The second-hand shed was originally built for and operated in Boston before Live Nation made it Denver’s CityLights Pavilion, placed in the parking lot of the Pepsi Center.

City officials hope to open the venue by summer 2009 and once open, the city will book about two dozen shows of its own, for a total of about 50 events per year. Local station WRAL-TV noted that a vacant parcel across the street from the downtown convention center is being considered for the site of the venue.

The city will have to cover the costs of laying the foundation for the venue, erecting the structure and likely replacing the fabric covering – but mayor Charles Meeker told WRAL this would be offset by selling the naming rights to the shed.

Roger Krupa, director of the new Raleigh Convention Center, told WTVD-TV that he hopes to model the shed after the 6,900-capacity Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta.