Last Thursday (March 15) was a big day at the developing Carolina Crossroads Entertainment District.
Roanoke Rapids, which is financing the construction cost of the Randy Parton Theatre, handed over the keys to the venue’s namesake in a ceremony of the front steps of the facility.
This came on the same day that Jeanette Lee, better known as the world famous pool player the Black Widow, will be opening the first of what will become a chain of Black Widow Billiards.
The facility will be a 31,000 square foot, two-story building featuring a conference center, a 500-seat entertainment venue for a number of different type of events, as well as billiard tournaments and games.
The Randy Parton Theatre, under construction for nearly and year and a half, is the cornerstone of Carolina Crossroads. According to various statements released by the Theatre and Carolina Crossroads over the past year, the 1,500-seat auditorium is to be home to a series of concerts and related events, with some sort of entertainment almost nightly once the facility is up and running.
Friday, Parton said he’s hoping to have the theatre open and running by the first part of July, even if not on a full schedule.
Lee, winner of the 2003 Tournament of Champions, 17 World Professional Billiard Association title, a gold medalist at the 2001 World Games, and once ranked as the Number 1 player in the world, said this would be the first in a series of Black Widow Billiards, said the shop would be the first of many such facilities she plans to build.
But, she told those gathered Thursday at the Yesterday Café and Lounge she would be spending a lot of time in the Roanoke Valley to make sure this one gets off the ground.
As part of her announcement, she showed off some of the billiard skills that have made her famous as a player and a show person, playing to the crowd and even drawing one person, Carolyn Long, out to teach her how to make a trick shot or two.