Community helps local venue keep its doors open amid mounting debt

GASTONIA, N.C. — The Rooster, a venue in downtown Gastonia, will stay open after the owner raised thousands of dollars to pay off mounting debt.

Neighboring businesses stepped in to help owner Michael Carpenter open.

There was a GoFundMe, a raffle, and a benefit concert, which raised enough money for The Rooster.

Carpenter paid the debt off Monday afternoon with help from the community.

“I’m grateful. I’m very, very grateful,” Carpenter said.

He needed $40,000 to keep The Rooster, which he has owned for two years.

Carpenter said an adjustable-rate mortgage doubled his monthly payment.

“My dream was turning into a nightmare,” he said. “I truly believed that I had to figure this out on my own.”

Other downtown Gastonia business owners, including Scott Cavendish of Cavendish Brewing Company, said it’s their business too.

“He’s done so much for the community and it’s time for the community to help back,” Cavendish said.

Cavendish donated resources to Carpenter’s cause and put up a “Save The Roster” sign, making it more visible than his marque.

“We are trying to bring some people to Gastonia to reinvigorate the neighborhoods,” Cavendish said.

People from outside the state often book the venue.

“We’ve got people who come down from Virginia, come over from Tennessee up from Georgia, all the time,” Carpenter said.

The Gastonia baseball team donated $5 from each ticket from a home game to save The Rooster.

City Cade held a raffle for a guitar and the donations poured in when the band played on The Rooster’s roof over the weekend.

“It’s saved because of the community I built this place for,” Carpenter said. “I don’t know how to thank everybody.”

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