RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, Columbus, GA, Ghid vizitatori și ce de văzut în apropiere

The RiverCenter for the Performing Arts is a large arts complex in downtown Columbus, Georgia, at 20 W 10th St. It was built as a joint project of the city and Columbus State University, and it houses three performance halls and the university's Schwob School of Music. It is the main stage for concerts, theatre and big public events in the city.

The story behind it

The RiverCenter opened in the early 2000s. The city and Columbus State University planned it together, so it works as both a public theatre and a teaching home for music students. The building is huge, roughly 240,000 square feet, and fills a whole downtown block.

Inside are three very different spaces. The Bill Heard Theatre is the grand hall, with about 2,000 seats on three levels. Legacy Hall is a smaller concert room of around 450 seats, built with classical music in mind. The Studio Theatre is a flexible black box that holds up to about 250 people. The center hosts the Miss Georgia pageant each year, and the Bill Heard Theatre appears on screen in the gospel competition near the end of the film The Fighting Temptations.

What to look for

• Notice the sheer scale of the building from the street, which takes up a full city block and sets the tone for the downtown arts district.
• Look at the entrance and lobby area for posters and signs that show which shows and concerts are coming up.
• Think about the three halls behind the walls: a 2,000-seat theatre, a 450-seat concert room and a small studio stage, all under one roof.
• Watch for students carrying instrument cases, a sign that the Schwob School of Music works inside the building every day.

Tips for your visit

• Give the exterior 10 to 15 minutes if you are walking past. If you attend a performance, plan for the whole evening.
• You can see the outside at any time, but the halls are usually open only for performances and events, so check current opening hours and the event calendar.
• Late afternoon and evening are the liveliest times, when audiences arrive for shows.
• The RiverCenter sits in the middle of downtown Columbus, so it pairs easily with a walk through the surrounding streets, cafes and restaurants.

See it on a quest

Ghost Hunt in Columbus, GA is a good way to see the RiverCenter. You reach it on foot as one stop of a longer route through downtown, the app tells you about the place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

Columbus, GA Detective Mystery: Infiltrate a Secret Society. also passes the building. It is a self-guided walk where you move from place to place, hear about each one in the app and solve a puzzle in front of you. You can start any time, with no guide and no group to join, and one ticket covers the whole group.