Chancellor Distances University From Arts Center Litigation Talk

— Should City Council members pursue legal action to block the Walton Arts Center from expanding outside of Fayetteville, they will not have the support of the University of Arkansas.

In a letter delivered to Mayor Lioneld Jordan on Friday, University Chancellor David Gearhart expressed the university’s excitement about the arts center’s announcement earlier this week to pursue adding a 600-seat theater in Fayetteville and building a 2,200-seat performance hall near downtown Bentonville.

“The university believes that any discussion of litigation is counterproductive and inconsistent with the best interests of the Walton Arts Center,” Gearhart said in the letter. “The university would not support any litigation and opposes any such action.”

City Attorney Kit Williams, the wake of the arts center’s decision, issued two memorandums to Jordan and the City Council offering his opinion the city would have legal grounds to seek an injunction against any expansion beyond Fayetteville.

The city and the university are the two public entities that forged agreements in the 1980s to create the Walton Arts Center Council and its foundation. Williams considers the arts center’s leadership to be “agents” of the city and university.

Williams said, by opposing the city’s clear preference for expanding the arts center solely in Fayetteville, the arts center’s board, in effect, breached its “fiduciary duty” to the entities that created it.

On Thursday, Williams said he was not surprised by the university’s position.

“I was not expecting to have them to support any type of litigation that would come from the council,” he said.

The Walton family, which has backed the arts center’s expansion in Bentonville, has also been a strong financial supporter of the university, including a $300 million gift in 2002 that was the largest gift ever to a public university.

If the City Council wanted to authorize Williams to seek an injunction, that would likely not occur until at least Dec. 21.

“This is not some kind of emergency that we’d try to walk on Tuesday’s agenda,” Williams said. “It would go through the standard city resolution process.”

It’s too soon to say what decision the council may make.

Ward 2 Alderman Matthew Petty said he believes the expansion is a win for Fayetteville and the region and will not lead to a loss of arts programs or revenue locally.

Ward 1 Alderwoman Brenda Thiel said of Williams’ memo, “I think he made some good points in it. The City Council should review that, but that will require further discussion.”

Peter Lane, the arts center’s president and chief executive officer, has said he believes the arts center’s board acted appropriately when approving expansion.

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