The Entertainment, Sports, and Cultural (ESC) District (See Plate 31)
Current Conditions Clearly some of the most important elements of this
entire planning study were the four regional enter-
tainment and sports venues located in the middle of
the master plan. The arena, the adjacent NC State
University football stadium, an equestrian complex
to the south of the stadium and the extensive State
Fairground together form a complex that is a state-
wide destination, and where events occur nearly every
day of the year.
This sub-area of the plan comprises approximately
460 acres (184 hectares) and includes thousands of
temporary and permanent parking spaces, although
at the time of the charrette, no official parking capac-
ity numbers were available. There has been an infor-
mal agreement to share parking during peak events
such as football games and the State Fair; in addition,
the arena relies heavily on the football stadium park-
ing on a regular basis, and to meet their own needs,
NC State University had recently purchased land
adjacent to the stadium for additional parking and
practice fields. There was no comprehensive market-
ing strategy for all the facilities, and with the excep-
tion of some banners at the stadium and the arena,
no coordinated signage or streetscape program. The
one local road that bisects the area from east to west
completely lacks any pedestrian amenities. The tens
of thousands of fans and spectators at the various
events walk in the road or along grass verges.
Plan Recommendations Other than two key hotel and office sites near the
intersection of the existing roads at the eastern edge
of the site, no substantial development opportunities
were identified during the charrette for this fifth and
last sub-area of the Small Area Plan. One hotel could
be a major conference facility, and both would
provide much needed accommodation in an
underserved market area. The charrette team enter-
tained the idea of developing a larger shopping and
restaurant complex near the stadium that would be a
citywide destination, but we decided it was not fea-
sible. A development of this type would be too iso-
lated in that location, not visible from the freeway,
not easily accessible by transit, and would be over-
whelmed by traffic and parking from the State Fair,
football games, and other major events. In addition,
we considered it would generate unwanted competi-
tion for the potential mixed-use urban village around
the State Fair train station to the south.
We did, however, believe there was a great need
for general infrastructure improvements in the area
including coordinated lighting and streetscape ameni-
ties. We recommended that the east–west street be
widened to a four-lane boulevard with a landscaped
median, curb and gutter, street trees and eight feet
(2.4 meters) wide sidewalks. This type of streetscape
design would permit and encourage pedestrian move-
ment much more safely than existing conditions
allowed.
In addition to the basic streetscape improvements,
we strongly encouraged the arena, the stadium and
the State Fairground to develop a coordinated, for-
mal strategy for parking. We were concerned that
no actual count of parking spaces could be readily
provided, and that parking was creeping throughout
the area on an
ad hoc basis. This coordination could
ultimately take the form of a Parking Authority
charged with the maintenance of all the parking
available to the main venues and construction of any
new facilities.
We also encouraged all the venues to coordinate
marketing and events better. Their close proximity
should entice larger national and international events
that require such large facilities. If nothing else, this
coordination would assist all the venues to plan traf-
fic and parking properly, avoiding the annual issue of
whether NC State will have a home football game
during the State Fair. We also strongly suggested the
improvement of an existing lane along the east side
of the adjacent residential westover neighborhood
with curb and gutter, street trees and wide sidewalks
to permit pedestrian and shuttle bus circulation from
the State Fair train station to the arena and football
stadium. During events, this street could be closed to
automobile traffic and opened to frequent transit
shuttles. There were only a few homes in the neigh-
borhood with direct access from this existing lane that
would need some modification to accommodate these
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improvements. This could take the form of a limited
access rear lane along the boundaries of the properties,
utilizing land within the street right-of-way.
