The longtime leader of a Roanoke cultural institution is departing this week.
Cyrus Pace was 38 years old when he became executive director of Jefferson Center, a former Roanoke high school that was repurposed into a performance venue, a headquarters for numerous nonprofits, and host of music programs for young people. Now, 15 years later, Pace is leaving Jefferson Center for a new job leading the Academy Center of the Arts, a historic theater in downtown Lynchburg.
"I think it's time for a new vision for Jefferson Center, and ultimately you get to a point and say to yourself, as a leader, is there something else where i can do more for more people, and have I done what I can do where I am, and my answer to those two questions was yes," Pace says.
Pace is leaving Jefferson Center at a high point: Last year, the facility saw its highest sales ever. Pace built on the legacy of his predecessor, Dylan Locke, in attracting both music fans and artists to Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center's 900-plus seat auditorium modeled after a popular 17th century “shoe box” English opera house. It's hosted performers like Mavis Staples, Neko Case, JJ Grey, Emmylou Harris, and Branford and Wynton Marsalis.
And it's part of a burgeoning live music scene in Roanoke, hosting theater, jazz and popular music shows that are a bit smaller than those at the city-owned Berglund Center, and bigger than music halls like Spot on Kirk and Five Points Music Sanctuary.
"This vision that Dylan Locke had when he started programming at Jefferson Center, this vision that Ed Walker and others have talked about, about Roanoke being a great live music town and that being a catalyst for other development, we're still seeing the benefits of that thinking," Pace says.
Pace helped lead Jefferson Center through the pandemic, and last year it had its highest-ever sales. He says four of his all-time best live music experiences have occurred at the venue. He says, it's been a pleasure operating a place that connects people.
"We don't ask you who you voted for when you come to buy a ticket," Pace says. "We don't ask you anything other than to be wiling to buy a ticket to be in a room with other people who want to have this analog experience and say this is something we can share together. The energy in the room when that's done well, and with a great artist, is the best stuff in the world."
But Jefferson Center faces challenges, too. The building dates back to 1922, when it was opened as a high school that operated into the '70s. It was rehabilitated and reopened in phases in the 1990s and early 2000s.
But it needs another round of work — which requires fundraising, and appeals to the Roanoke city council for assistance.
"The city of Roanoke invests in culture, it will get culture," Pace says. "If donors invest in culture, we'll get culture. That's the way it works."
And, the cultural landscape has changed. New music venues are opening, including the Harvester in Rocky Mount, with a standing capacity of 700; the 1,260-seat Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech; and most recently, the Exchange Music Hall, a converted former bank building just up the street in downtown Roanoke. But Pace says a rising tide lifts all boats.
"It's literally had zero effect on our ability to engage our community," Pace says. "People are still coming out, they're buying more tickets than they've ever bought, so this bet on live music and culture in Roanoke, has been an amazingly smart thing to do. I mean, it's working."
Pace says he's excited to take that experience to the Academy Center of the Arts in Lynchburg. His last day at the Jefferson Center is March 7.
