Martinsville councilors are gearing up to revisit an old, yet widely supported, project during Tuesday’s 6 p.m. work session at the New College Institute’s Gardner Boardroom.
Martinsville has been without a prominent arts venue since the Rives Theatre burned down in 2019.
Plans for a newly constructed amphitheater will be discussed at the city council’s Tuesday’s work session. The presentation could lead to a feasibility study.
The Rives Theatre had served as the city’s primary performance venue since the 1920s. An amphitheater could fill that role, serving as a venue for musical, stage and other kinds of performances.
Last year’s Martinsville-Henry County Tourism Plan described the project as “a mixture of culture, entertainment and outdoor activities.”
The amphitheater idea dates back as early as 2010, when it was mentioned in the city’s Uptown Martinsville Revitalization Plan and again in the Uptown Community Vision Plan in 2022. In the latter, the amphitheater was one of the most supported projects among city residents.
Current plans would place the proposed amphitheater on an 8.8-acre parcel of land currently owned by the Lester Group.
“We’ve been looking at the area that is behind 212 Franklin St. and 242 Franklin St.,” said Lester Group Vice President Andrew Palmer.
Palmer explained that current plans do not entail donating the entirety of the 8.8-acre property.
“It may not necessarily be the whole piece of property,” Palmer said. “Once they lay out the amphitheater and it’s going to take up X amount of acres, we would have it surveyed off.”
If approved by city council members, next steps would be to conduct a feasibility study. Both the city and the Harvest Foundation were identified as the study’s possible funding sources.
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A feasibility study could help support future grant applications for design completion and construction. The project will be discussed at the 6 p.m. work session and could be decided on during the council’s 7 p.m. regular session. The work session will be held at the NCI’s Gardner Boardroom and the regular session at city council chambers.
