by Shawn Nowlin
First, it was an idea amongst contemporaries. A timeline plan was then set into action. Alas, today, the old First National Exchange Bank at 101 S. Jefferson Street is on track to be converted into a restaurant complex and hotel in the coming weeks.
With a cost of approximately $10 million, The Exchange Music Hall will share space with two different entities – The Promissory (boutique hotel) and !Suerte! (Spanish restaurant).
Banking on experienced individuals with a proven track record is never a bad idea. Once the bank, originally built in 1912, closed nearly a decade ago, it remained vacant until Roanoke developer Lucus Thornton and his partners started their lofty renovation project.
“Starting this project, my partners and I coalesced around a singular mission: to incrementally improve the community that we know and love through the introduction of a culturally relevant music venue,” Thornton wrote on his Facebook page. “We are one step closer to achieving that vision and we could not be more excited or proud.’”
The reclamation project didn’t happen overnight. A lot had to come together to get where things are today. Help, for instance, came in a variety of forms.
For more than two decades, Across-The-Way Productions has put on FloydFest. The popular, multi-day music festival annually attracts tens of thousands of people from all over the country.
Across-The-Way will be responsible for programming at The Exchange, beginning with a New Year’s Eve Show featuring Grace Potter and the Holy Roller Band.
Across-The-Way Chief Operating Officer Sam Calhoun said, “FloydFest has earned a reputation as a tastemaker festival, providing a vibrant stage for musicians across a wide spectrum of genres. That eclectic mix of artists will inform the programming at The Exchange.”
Along with Calhoun, John McBroom and Jessica Taylor are the other majority co-owners of Across-The-Way and FloydFest.
Expected to be a welcome addition to the area, many people already have their calendars marked for the grand opening of The Exchange.
“If there is anything that Lucus Thornton and Sam Calhoun have proven over the years, it is that they will go above and beyond to get the job done,” Harris Smith said. “Anytime one has a lofty goal, there is inevitably a price one must pay. Everyone involved has paid that price through hard work and togetherness. As the saying goes, ‘Hard work does pay off.’”
