Cumberland County is pausing construction of the $145 million Crown Event Center for up to 30 days while an outside lawyer reviews the project.
The Event Center had been scheduled to open in spring 2027. A 1,100 space, $33 million parking deck to support the Event Center had been scheduled to open in April 2026.
The county Board of Commissioners met for about 70 minutes in closed session on Wednesday morning before returning to public session to vote 6-0 to suspend all Crown Event Center work. (Commissioner Jeannette M. Council was absent.)
The pause is “for the purpose of reviewing and also investigating the scope, schedule and the financial budget for this particular project,” Vice Chair Veronica Jones said in a motion to initiate the delay.
When the review is done, County Commissioner Henry Tyson told CityView on Wednesday afternoon, the commissioners may decide that the Event Center project will continue, they could postpone it, they could change its location, or they could cancel it.
“I think it’s just good that we have this review so that we know exactly where our position lies and what the status of the project is,” he said.
During a news conference on Wednesday to discuss the delay, reporters asked Commissioners Chair Kirk deViere if there was a specific problem that prompted the review.
DeViere answered by saying the Board of Commissioners has changed. “Three new board members. You have a new board,” he said. (DeViere, Tyson and Pavan Patel took office in December, so they had not previously been part of the decision-making for Event Center.)
The Event Center is one of the largest, most expensive projects in Cumberland County history, he said.
“This board feels that we want to have an outside review of the scope of this project at this time,” deViere said. “We want to ensure that every part of this contract, every part of this project is properly done, and it’s efficient, and all aspects are accountable, and we’re getting the best use of taxpayer dollars.”
As a new commissioner, Patel said he wants this assessment.
“We’ve got a $145 million project that has kind of shifted in various ways,” he told CityView. “So we just want to make sure before we move forward, that we’ve got everything tightened up, we’ve looked over everything with a second set of outside eyes. Basically, that we do our due diligence, because there are a lot of capital projects going on.”
The county is hiring attorney J. Scott Flowers of the Hutchens Law Firm of Fayetteville to conduct the review, deViere said. Flowers’ fee for the review has not yet been determined, County Manager Clarence Grier said in an email later Wednesday.
Event Center to replace Crown Theatre, Crown Arena
Construction of the Crown Event Center began in October in downtown Fayetteville on the Gillespie Street parking lot of the county courthouse. With a 3,000-seat auditorium and other meeting space and facilities, the Event Center is to be a venue for concerts, stage shows and other performances, and host banquets, conventions, and other activities.
It is to replace the Crown Arena and Crown Theatre at the Crown Complex on Coliseum Drive off U.S. 301 South and Owen Drive. The buildings are being replaced due to age (they were built in the late 1960s), lack of compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, and the estimated costs of upgrading and modernizing the structures vs. building a new performing arts venue.
The much larger Crown Coliseum, built in the 1990s, is unaffected by the Crown Event Center project and will remain in operation. The commissioners voted on Wednesday to hire L & L Drywall & Construction of Fayetteville for $835,363 to modernize the coliseum’s bathrooms.
The Crown Complex and construction of the Crown Event Center are funded via the county’s hotel occupancy tax and by a 1% prepared food and beverage tax levied on food and drink served in restaurants and other retail outlets for immediate consumption.
When the review is done, the county commissioners will consider and bring the results to the public, deViere said.
“I want to ensure that everyone understands that this 30-day pause is a responsible and a pro-active step to ensure accountability and transparency,” he said. “Once this review is complete, you have my word that I will communicate the next steps on this project, and how we will move forward.”