Wilkesboro Stage

Our studio teamed with the Town of Wilkesboro to help them forge a new downtown experience. The Wilkesboro Stage is a versatile outdoor venue in the heart of downtown and is just the start of a bigger effort to restore vitality to their historic town.

The town of Wilkesboro is in the process of a downtown rejuvenation with the purpose of restoring vitality to their historic town. The first phase of the rejuvenation included plans for three major components in their downtown space including a revamped open air market, a versatile lawn in front of the Wilkesboro Heritage Museum, and a new, permanent outdoor stage.

Before Images and Process Renderings
Above: Views of Wilkesboro’s stage off Main Street before construction of the new stage.
Below: At the start of the project, we worked with illustrator, Joe Skibba, to help us create renderings that show what downtown Wilkesboro will look like. These renderings were used to help residents more easily understand the vision.

This stage, called Wilkes Communications Pavilion, is the biggest visual change to the downtown streetscape and is located at the right on Main Street. Inspired by the manufacturing and agricultural heritage of the area, we designed an airy steel and concrete structure with a low-profile metal roof. The stage is accessible on two sides, one that faces the street and one that faces the Open Air Market lawn. This versatility gives the town one space that can accommodate a variety of events, like public gatherings, street festivals and, of course, concerts.

Wilkesboro would like to see more life downtown. By providing this permanent structure, they will be able to use it for a variety of events. The stage can be used for public or ticketed events, like Wilkesboro’s annual Carolina in the Fall Festival, or as a public gathering place. The stage has a flexible design that can either be used as one big performance area or separated into three smaller stages. Performers can face the market side or street side depending on the type of event.