Tom Joyce | The News

Tanya Jones, Surry Arts Council executive director, stands Tuesday at the site where a new dance area is planned for Blackmon Amphitheatre, visible in the background.

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Dancers attending concerts at Blackmon Amphitheatre will have a new place to polish their moves if Mount Airy officials grant a request for additional dance floor space.

However, restrooms — another need identified for the facility — will have to wait a while longer.

The request involving the extra dance floor will be considered during a meeting of the city board of commissioners Thursday at 2 p.m.

“Several people had asked for it, which planted the seed,” Surry Arts Council Executive Director Tanya Jones said Tuesday regarding the upgrade. The arts council schedules events at the amphitheatre that is owned by the city government, including a beach music concert series which Jones said is the most popular activity hosted there.

“We’re getting more people at the events each year,” she said.

Blackmon Amphitheatre has been hosting activities since 2005.

The outdoor facility already has one granite dance floor in front of the stage, while the new one proposed is targeted for the upper level of the amphitheatre behind the seating section. The site is now a grassy spot that is relatively flat, which will require little site preparation. The new dance area is to be made of granite tiles, as the existing one was.

Under the proposal to be considered Thursday, the Surry Arts Council will buy the tiles, with assistance from city personnel sought to prepare the site and install them.

“This was also done at the lower level, so the (city) crew has prior experience,” the arts council official said in a memo to City Manager Barbara Jones.

The size of the dance floor will not exceed 20-by-40 feet “and will probably be smaller,” Tanya Jones added.

Restrooms Possible Later

Jones also responded Tuesday to another need at Blackmon Amphitheatre frequently cited by attendees: restroom facilities.

In past years, concert patrons were allowed to use those on the lower level of the nearby Municipal Building, but that is no longer the case. Most recently, the arts council has had to rely on port-a-john facilities placed in the municipal parking lot between that building and the amphitheatre.

Restrooms could be added at another time, according to the Surry Arts Council executive director. But since the amphitheater is part of the City Hall complex, the matter is out of her agency’s control, Jones explained.

“The city owns the property and the city will determine when the restrooms are constructed,” she said. “I think that’s in our future.”

Reach Tom Joyce at 719-1924 or tjoyce@civitasmedia.com.