High Point Entertainment Venue On Hold Over HB2

A High Point entertainment project is being put on hold because of North Carolina's so-called “bathroom bill,” which has organizers worried about building a stage and not finding artists willing to take it.

The plan was to build a $2 million outdoor complex on what is now parking space in the heart of the furniture market. It would be a gathering place for after-hours entertainment for market-goers, and the city could use it for other events when the market is not in town.

“It was one more thing to help with the revitalization effort,” says Scott Eckman with International Market Centers, the group behind the proposal.

Now Eckman says they're waiting to see what happens with HB2, North Carolina's law that - among other things - limits protections for LGBT people.

Outrage over the law has prompted some high-profile concert cancellations since it was passed last year. That's led to uncertainty about booking future acts.  

Eckman says it wasn't clear even before HB2 that the project could bring in enough big-name performers to make it feasible. The law has further complicated the issue.

So Eckman says they are no longer studying the project while the law hangs in limbo. Currently, the legislature and the governor's office are at loggerheads over how to fix it.

The market's popular Stars Under the Stars music program will still go on. This spring's headliner is country singer Trisha Yearwood.