More than a hundred years ago, People’s National Bank did business at the corner of Main and East Third Streets in Charlottesville, while the First National Exchange Bank was serving downtown Roanoke. Nearly a decade ago, they closed, and developers wondered how best to transform them.
Charlottesville needed more office space, and the building’s owner thought the arts might give him an edge in renting workplaces to the public.
This fall, the 22,000-square-foot building opened a show by artist and architect Bill Atwood who taught at the University of Virginia for ten years before the Dean demanded to see his lesson plan.
“I’ve never had a lesson plan. I have 125 points. I make them all and no more, and that’s it," Atwood recalls. "The Dean said, ‘Well you’re going to have to do one,’ and I said, ‘No, I’m out of here!’"
He would become one of Charlottesville’s most successful architects, designing more than 100,000 buildings in 12 states and three countries
“L.F. Payne called us the condo kings. We were doing condominiums everywhere. Did most of Wintergreen and a lot of places on the east coast, all the way down to Florida.”
His firm was also known for designing clubhouses for golfers.
“And I hate golf, but golf took me to St. Andrews to do a club, three of them in Japan. I never liked the sport at all, but I knew how to do a good bar and a very good kitchen.”
And Atwood had a love on the side – almost every night he would paint, draw and assemble collages. Many of those works now cover the walls of the old bank building, tentatively called Vault Virginia. Michael Allenby is its general manager.
“We have vaults here. We do have the noun vault, but this could also be a place for vault to be a verb -- a place where people could have their experiences elevated, connecting and getting things done," he explains.
The basement of Vault Virginia is set aside for artists like Atwood, seeking space to create.
“The lower level of our co-working space is called the creator hub, and that’s our low barrier to entry place for creatives, coders or designers," Allenby says.
Higher floors feature pricier offices and conference rooms, a café called The Bradbury – named for the building’s architect, and an intimate performance space.
Allenby, who founded a music festival in Nelson County called The Festy, says it will seat fewer than 100 people for acoustic performances.
In Roanoke, investors are banking on a much larger space for much bigger bands.
Rocker Grace Potter – whose voice thrilled millions of kids in the Disney animation Tangled – will be on stage New Year’s Eve for the first of what entrepreneur Sam Calhoun hopes will be concerts the city now misses.
“There are bands of a bigger size that play let’s say Charlottesville or Richmond – and then they skip us and go to Charlotte or Raleigh or Knoxville, because there’s not a room of the size they need to play Roanoke.”
The Jefferson Center and Five Points can accommodate smaller crowds, while the Bergland Center seats more than 10,000, so Calhoun says the Exchange Music Hall will be perfect for 1,200 standing -- plus VIPs who could be accommodated in a large bank vault.
“The bank vaults are still there," he says, "We finally got into the big one, and we’re looking at that to be maybe a speakeasy feel or something for the artists.”
Born and raised in Roanoke, Calhoun says his grandmother used to work at the bank, so he’s come full circle – but not before establishing his chops in the music world, overseeing Floyd Fest for more than a decade.
That gathering hosts a hundred bands on seven stages for five days. It’s been a good thing for local hotels and restaurants.
“We’ve put heads in beds, gas in tanks, money into the local economies of Floyd and Roanoke for many, many years," Calhoun says.
And to accommodate visitors at his new venture, the old bank will also include a boutique hotel and Spanish restaurant which will open later next year.
In addition to Grace Potter, the first concert will include a rising band from Richmond – Holy Roller, and one other star – the music hall itself.
“We’ve sold a lot of tickets very fast. I think people are very interested to see this building after three years of watching the construction.”
Calhoun claims 80% of concert venues are owned by large corporations like Live Nation and AEG, but by working with other independent theaters and promoters in southwest Virginia, he’s betting the Exchange will be a money maker and an economic engine for Roanoke.
On Saturday, November 15, Vault Virginia invites the public to an open house from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, followed by an evening ticketed concert at The Guild,
Charlottesville’s newest venue and intimate listening room will feature an acoustic reunion by Virginia’s own Everything. The band rose to fame in the 1990s with their hit single “Hooch” and has reunited for select performances celebrating their album Motion Emotion.
The day-long event will also launch the CreatorHub, a new membership-based workspace. Refreshments will be available at The Bradbury Café, and the art of Bill Atwood will be on display.
