Raleigh Convention Center cancels all December events after Monday fire
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- Raleigh Convention Center cancels all December events after roof fire.
- Officials report a natural gas incident near HVAC; damages exceed $2 million.
- Inspections will determine January plans; no timetable for future events.
All events scheduled at the Raleigh Convention Center in December will not take place there after a Monday roof fire caused over $2 million in damages.
The convention center has cleared its December slate and is “pausing beyond that to see progress and assessments,” executive director Kerry Painter said.
Groups holding December events will have to cancel, postpone or move their events to a different venue, Raleigh public information officer Julia Milstead said. The city is working with individual organizations to find new venues and will return deposits to the affected groups within 30 days.
Among the affected events is the 2025 Cheerleading Invitational held by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, which was scheduled for this weekend. The association has postponed the championship, which was set to bring almost 200 high schools to downtown Raleigh to compete for a state title.
“An update will be shared as soon as plans are confirmed,” the association said on its website.
The convention center is waiting for inspections to be completed before it can make a decision on events in January and beyond, Painter said. There is no timetable for when it will announce decisions related to those events.
The fire started on the roof around 9:30 p.m. Monday and was a “natural gas incident,” officials said.
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Raleigh Fire Chief Herbert Griffin said Tuesday the costs of damages exceeded $2 million, though Painter later said she did not have an exact estimate yet. No injuries were reported.
Officials are still working to determine the exact cause of the fire, but it happened near an HVAC platform. A gas line fed into that system and was eventually cut, Griffin said.
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This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM.
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