By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Grayson City Council held a special meeting on Monday, April 27, to hear from Paramount Arts Center, Inc (PAC) about a proposed new entertainment venue in Grayson. PAC had previously presented the idea to the Grayson Tourism Commission, and provided the same information directly to the council on Monday.
“The Tourism Commission passed their budget,” Mayor Troy Combs said. “And there is a contribution initiative in it.”
Combs said that because this was a special project, a special meeting of the city council was held so that the tourism commission and PAC could bring that before the council.
PAC Inc. Executive Director Holly Canfield provided council with the same information she had provided to the tourism commission, including a market snapshot, and explained a little about her organization.
“For over 50 years PAC Inc. operated as a nonprofit performing arts organization in Ashland and managed the Paramount Theater for 53 years,” Canfield said. “As of December 31, 2025, we are no longer over managing the Paramount, and we are looking for a new home.”
That historic chapter closed when the City of Ashland passed management of the theater to an Iowa based for-profit management company in January. This move came after the city purchased the building for $3 million in 2024 – over the objections of some PAC board members – and while the organization was struggling to bounce back from COVID-era financial losses. But while the performing arts non-profit may have lost their venue, they haven’t lost sight of their mission or their institutional knowledge and, as Canfield explained, they’d like to bring both to Grayson.
“As a part of the discussion we had in the past, we talked a little bit about the opportunity to partner with Grayson Tourism and the City of Grayson,” Canfield told the council.
Some information they gathered by monitoring ticket sales over time, she said, was that the third largest group of purchasers (Ashland being first and Ironton Ohio residents being the second largest) were from Grayson. Canfield said this trend was consistent and had been so at least since 2018 when she became part of Paramount Inc.
“What this tells us is that Grayson likes our programming. And that folks in Grayson want to attend more events like the ones PAC Inc. puts together. Our interest is to be able to continue to do that in Grayson,” Canfield said. “And we want to have the opportunity to partner with Grayson Tourism to improve economic development in the community and bring in more tourists.”
Canfield said she hoped to bring in both tourists that commute and those who choose to stay overnight in the Grayson area.
“If you look at the market snapshot, one of the things that makes Grayson so appealing is that it is a perfect route from Nashville, Tennessee as national touring artists are heading through to Cincinnati or Columbus, Ohio,” Canfield told the council. “It’s a natural extension.”
Canfield went on to explain the location they had tentatively chosen for the venue, a building located near Kee’s Farm Service on the outskirts of Grayson. Canfield said that it was an ideal location for the new venue, with a standing room only capacity (SRO) of 1,300. She said the nearest comparable venue was Manchester Music Hall in Lexington.
PAC had been in contact with the owner of the venue, Vernon Messer, but had waited to finalize whether there would be a purchase or lease of the venue until after the project itself had been committed to by the Grayson City Council and the Grayson Tourism Commission. The initial cost of the proposed venue, which would include renovation, was set at $500,000, with the costs borne by the Grayson Tourism Commission and possibly the City of Grayson.
The council received the information from PAC Inc. and from members of the Grayson Tourism Commission, but no decision was made at the meeting.
“The City Council has to assess our needs and what we are capable of,” Combs said after the discussion. “I think we are in a strong financial position, but we need to do that. And I think that at this time, all we can do is take it into consideration.”
Combs said that the city council passes their budget (which includes the tourism commission’s budget) in June, and between now and then the city would know what was possible concerning the proposal.
In other, related business the city council voted to open a new bank account specifically for the restaurant tax. The new account could be considered as a book keeping aid, which will help the city to better maintain records of the restaurant tax collected in the city.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
