Martin Marietta’s Outdoor Refresh Takes Shape

Peep the new-and-improved Lichtin Plaza

Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts’ long-awaited plaza upgrade is finally complete—and for the thousands flowing in and out on show nights, the difference starts the second you arrive. 

Twenty-five years after the curtain first rose, Lichtin Plaza—aka the venue’s “front porch”—was well-overdue for a face-lift. Designed to better reflect the diversity of touring acts and homegrown shows alike, the update reinforces the center’s role as a cornerstone of the DTR arts scene.

The redesign sports a dedicated drop-off lane (read: patrons can pull up directly to the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium lobby), swaps the fountain-turned-garden for a far more flexible event-ready space, ups accessibility with new wheelchair ramps, and enhances greenspace to create a more inviting arrival for eventgoers. 

“It looks like it was always meant to be like this,” maintains Kerry Painter, director and GM of the larger Raleigh Convention and Performing Arts Complex. “It’s perfect for the building: Elegant, regal, and it matches the architecture—and it’s so much more open for the community now.”

The project—which turned around in just ~six months after breaking ground in September—lands amid a broader transformation for DTR and a new, dynamic era for the plaza’s neighbors, including the highly anticipated forthcoming Omni Raleigh Hotel and Raleigh Convention Center expansion, slated for 2029 completion and further uplifting culture and tourism nearby. 

Bottom line—whether you’re catching a Broadway tour, concert, an opera or even comedian, the city’s main stage now has a front porch to match.

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