What does an old cigarette manufacturing facility have to do with a children’s museum and a visual and performing arts center? It makes a perfect building to be redesigned for the citizens of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The 150,000 square foot building is being redesigned by the Katz McConnel and Associates Architecture (KMA) firm with Anderson & Associates as the civil sub-consultant.

On a dreary day in September of 1999, flood waters from Hurricane Floyd destroyed the existing Arts Center’s four main buildings. The Arts Center in Rocky Mount was the City’s location for visual and performing arts, and was housed in an abandoned Atlantic Coast Line Railroad tank and pump house which had undergone a tremendous renovation program. However, these original buildings are located in a floodplain, leading to the decision by the City to relocate rather than rebuild.

The solution utilizes KMA’s design which includes the renovation of the old Braswell Memorial Library which will house a black box theater and a painting/drawing studio, as well as other rooms that would incorporate space for interrelated activities, such as classes and seminars. The main building is being renovated to house the Arts Center, which will include the main theater, planetarium, and science museum. A catwalk has been designed to link the Children’s Museum and Arts Center together.

A&A’s work on this project included the site plans, parking lot design, stormwater management, erosion and sediment control, and sidewalk connections. A&A Project Manager Mary Ann Bonadeo, has been working with Mark McConnel from KMA to help make this project a success.

Funding from this project includes: Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits, which come from Federal and State monies; the New Market Tax Credit, and the New Mill Tax Credit, which are North Carolina funded credits for refurbishing old mills.

Mary Ann said, "The Imperial Centre will provide the citizens of Rocky Mount with an increasing experience in the arts and all of the positive things it will bring to the community." Mark agrees and said, "The Centre will be an absolutely huge benefit to the Rocky Mount community, helping jump start their economy."