The Progress

Follow the progress through our multi-year campaign to create an arts center in the heart of downtown Southport.

Save the Hall, Y'all!

As part of its third Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Southport, Up Your Arts has an agreement with local officials to advance the project to pre-construction by taking the following next steps:

▸ Conduct community-based presentations to inform the public and solicit ongoing feedback
▸ Lead an executive committee comprised of professional experts to direct activities pro bono
▸ Share and discuss outcomes with municipal leaders
▸ Manage a local volunteer membership group to plan future programming
▸ Foster community-based efforts to connect and develop a range of fundraising sources
for the building’s reconstruction
▸ Fund professional architectural services necessary to solicit contractor bids
▸ Establish a cross-section of local stakeholders to form a non-profit board of trustees
as the legal agency to oversee and direct funding for the reconstruction and to enter
into a leasing agreement with the City of Southport to operate and maintain the
property as a community arts center

Up Your Arts is committed to both transparency and accountability in our partnership with the City of Southport and our various community partners. The offers of help we have received, from pro bono hands-on activity to financial support, point to a very successful project outcome.

Donate to Help Save the Hall!

Memorandums of Understanding with the City of Southport, NC

· Nov 2019 MOU 1
· Dec 2020 MOU 2
· Nov 2021 MOU 2 Ext
· Jun 2022 MOU 3

Reserve Your Seat!

Progress Updates

January 2023 Update

Public Meetings scheduled

September 2022 Update

A series of public meetings have been scheduled to review plans for Up Your Arts’ proposed center for the creative and performing arts in downtown Southport. The meetings will take place at the Indian Trail Meeting Hall next to the Harper Library on Moore Street during the following times:

Tuesday, January 24 – 10am-noon and 2-4pm
Tuesday, January 31 – 2-4pm and 6-8pm
Thursday, February 2 – 10am-noon and 6-8pm

All are welcome. However, seating capacity is limited to 50 people, so interested parties must register to participate.

September 2021 Update

Search for Architect Begins

September 2021 Update

During the coming months professional architectural services will be engaged and funded by Up Your Arts. The selected firm will assist with defining and prioritizing all aspects of program development and in evaluating the requirements for engineering and hazardous material remediation services. The firm will then prepare a series of architectural drawings, specifications, and construction budgets.

July 2020 Update

Engineering and remediation study results delivered.

July 2020 Update

After reviewing the studies conducted and information gathered during the allotted timeframe, the UYA board of directors found that a sufficient basis exists to begin shaping a phase two agreement with the city’s governing body. A report was delivered to the City of Southport Mayor and Board of Alderman on July 9, 2020, with the results of the engineering and remediation mitigation studies to support this conclusion.

September 2022 Update

Meeting With the Mayor and Board of Alderman

September 2022 Update

Members of the Up Your Arts Board of Directors met with Southport Mayor Hatem and the city’s board of aldermen on September 12 to field questions and review the history, vision, and architectural drawings. Since the last memorandum of understanding with this governing body was signed in June, we have filed monthly updates of steps taken to advance the project.

December 2020 Update

Second MOU approved

December 2020 Update

A second MOU was approved between the parties in December 2020 for the next year-long stage, which will identify the physical design, programming, and fundraising necessary for financial sustainability, as well as, the management structure under which reconstruction would take place.

November 2019 Update

MOU Signed with City of Southport

November 2019 Update

On November 22, 2019, the board of directors for Up Your Arts entered into an agreement with the City of Southport to conduct a feasibility study for the adaptive reuse of the old city hall building located at 201 East Moore Street. This initial phase one study period was intended to give Up Your Arts an exclusive opportunity to study whether a project to convert the structure into a community-based performing and creative arts center was feasible.

August 2022 Update

Architectural Plans and Renderings Completed

August 2022 Update

Recently completed architectural plans to restore the historic Brunswick County Courthouse and former Southport City Hall on Moore Street will be the topic of upcoming community meetings, after a public presentation to the Southport Mayor and Board of Aldermen in
September 2022

August 2020 Update

Phase 2 MOU Planning

August 2020 Update

A memorandum of understanding defining a phase two agreement for design development was drafted and adopted after further consultation with the Mayor of Southport, the members of the Board of Aldermen, key city staff members and other civic stakeholders. Formal consideration was provided at the Board of Alderman meeting on August 13,2020.