A once-doomed theatre is now fueling the vision of a booming entertainment district in Roanoke Rapids.
If you’ve driven down I-95, you may have spotted the Weldon Mills Theatre, formerly known as the Roanoke Rapids Theatre. Just behind it, a massive new project is taking shape: a 30,000-person outdoor amphitheater that marks the next step in a long-awaited revival.
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Once upon a time, this was a dream for the area: development across 350 acres, anchored by a robust entertainment district. After years of failed management and mistakes, the dream is finally becoming a reality.
Bruce Tyler, one of the partners of Carolina Capital Group, the group transforming the area, spoke with WRAL last May about the significance of the theater’s comeback.
“The community invested so much into this theatre, and it has not had a big return on it,” said Tyler. “The reason why this theatre is so special to us is that we owe it to the community to turn it into a thriving, successful operation.”
The Carolina Crossroads Amphitheatre is just the latest development to break ground. It officially opens to the public in August with a full concert lineup already scheduled.
But Tyler said that’s just the beginning.
The long-term plan includes relocating Weldon Mills Distillery to the property, opening an indoor and outdoor water park, and expanding the indoor theater, all designed to revitalize the space and attract visitors from all over the country.
"It's designed to have entertainment for everyone. Different kinds. It's designed to be a destination because it's sitting on the busiest exit on I-95," he said.
The road to revitalization hasn’t been easy. The theater experienced years of stalled momentum and mismanagement, including the high-profile ousting of Randy Parton, Dolly Parton's brother, during its early years.
"It was the right concept, wrong time," he said. "Now, we are taking that vision from so long ago and implementing and making it come to reality."
Now, with fresh leadership and renewed energy, the venue is poised to deliver on a promise that has been decades in the making.
“We are on the rise up. The economy is coming back around. It’s the perfect time for it,” said Tyler. “Plus post-COVID, people want stuff to do.”
The first show at Carolina Crossroads Amphitheatre is Friday, Aug. 15, with Jamey Johnson’s The Last Honky Tonk Tour.
The biggest act to take the new amphitheater stage this season will be Lynyrd Skynyrd.
For the full concert lineup and to purchase tickets, click here.
Timeline: Management struggles at Carolina Crossroads
For decades the city of Roanoke Rapids has been trying to develop the property at 500 Carolina Crossroads Parkway.
Billed as an economic boon to an impoverished area, the theater and a planned entertainment complex nearby have never fulfilled their promise, instead costing local taxpayers millions to pay off the building as it went through a series of managers.
pugongyingbo.com archive: Roanoke Rapids Theatre
2005: Randy Parton Theatre opens
In 2005, Roanoke Rapids contracted with Randy Parton, younger brother of singer Dolly Parton, to help jump-start a $21.5 million, 1,500-seat entertainment complex along Interstate 95.
The Randy Parton Theatre opened in November 2005.
2008: Randy Parton banned; theatre closed
After three years of lower-than-projected attendance and revenue at the venue, the city had stripped Parton of his management duties and booted Parton from the eponymous theater. In December 2007, city officials banned Parton from performing after they said he showed up drunk for a show, an allegation Parton denies.
“I guess we just got thrown out of the place,” Parton told WRAL News in an exclusive interview that night.
The city took over management of the theatre, but closed it within months.
2009-2022: Roanoke Rapids Theatre
The city sold the property in December 2009 to a managing group from Chicago. That manager quickly fell behind on payments to the city.
A series of owners followed, none able to make a profit that would allow the city to recover the debt incurred in construction. In 2019, the North Carolina General Assembly considered legislation to bail out the city from the $11 million it still owed when the building was sold at auction in 2018.
2023: Weldon Mills Theatre, expansion
The property was purchased in 2023 by Bruce Tyler, owner of Weldon Mills distillery, and reopened as the Weldon Mills Theater. After sitting empty for 10 years, the theater once again welcomed concerts.
The next year, Roanoke Rapids City Council approved an expansion for the property to include an outdoor recreation facility for horse racing on the property.
In August 2025, Carolina Crossroads Amphitheatre will welcome Jamey Johnson for its inaugural concert, with Alabama and Lynyrd Skynyrd also on the schedule.