INC NEWS - Editorial: Rest of city must rise with center (Durham News)

[John Schelp]

Editorial: Rest of city must rise with center 
By Mark Schultz, Durham News (N&O), 29 Nov 2008

It's fitting that "Rent" will be one of the Durham Performing Arts Center's first shows.

The story follows a group of artists and musicians struggling to make it in New York's Bohemian East Village.

New York we're not. But Durham has seen its share of struggle. So if city leaders took a leap of faith that Nederlander/PFM could fill 2,800 seats, it's understandable. When opportunity knocks, you answer the door.

It's now up to Nederlander to book the acts a regional audience can support. But the DPAC is not our only venue that counts on out-of-town ticket buyers. The Carolina Theatre, Duke and the Durham Bulls all depend on more than half their visitors coming in from outside.

So perhaps that's the next challenge, because too much of what those visitors see on their way in still struggles. As Durham strengthens downtown, it must fortify, too, the neighborhoods that surround it.

For now, there is reason, even amid an economic downturn, to be optimistic. Rent proved itself the little play that could. And Durham is proving there's a second act yet in the town tobacco built.

Curtain up.