WAC EXPANSION: Bentonville Or Bust

FAYETTEVILLE — Bentonville should be the site of a Walton Arts Center expansion, at least if it’s left up to the Walton Family Foundation.

And the expansion should be smaller than Walton Arts Center officials have planned, at least for now, the foundation says.

“We believe strongly that a location in Bentonville would be best for adding to the performing arts venues in Northwest Arkansas,” Buddy D. Philpot, executive director of the Walton Family Foundation, said in a letter to the Walton Arts Center dated Tuesday.

That opinion is no small matter as the arts center considers where it will build a performance hall larger than its original 18-year-old facility on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. The family of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, was the major private donor when it came to building the arts center and continues in that role today.

The foundation gives roughly $1 million a year, said Peter Lane, the center’s president and CEO.

“The Walton family gift is the reason we’re sort of here in the first place,” Lane said Wednesday. “The Walton family has been a significant contributor to annual operations as well.”

The center opened in 1992, built through cooperative funding from Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas, which received a stock donation worth about $5 million from the Walton family for the center. Other donations also paid for the center’s construction.

The foundation wants the center to better serve the region, and would like to see “anchor” venues in Bentonville and Fayetteville.

“Our vision is for the Walton Arts Center to grow and serve the needs of the entire metropolitan area and we will always be supportive of the that mission,” the letter reads. “However, we do not foresee being the lead donor for a new performing arts facility in a location other than Bentonville.”

Foundation officials would not comment further.

The center is still in a site selection process, scheduled to conclude Aug. 2. The center has received about 20 proposals, said Terri Trotter, chief operating officer.

A study released in October 2008 called for a $180 million expansion to include a 2,200-seat theater, a 600-seat multiuse space and a 100-seat black box studio.

In Tuesday’s letter, however, the foundation said the “expansion as currently proposed is simply too large in terms of scope and cost.” The foundation suggested putting off a decision on the size of the project so it can be examined within the “context of the current economic climate and the future potential impact of other Northwest Arkansas cultural amenities now being planned or underway.”

The letter says a Bentonville location would complement revitalization occurring in downtown Bentonville, including the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Crystal Bridges, financed by Sam Walton’s daughter, Alice, and the foundation, is under construction on a 100-acre site near downtown Bentonville.

Lane said the site selected for the expansion will determine the project’s scope and size.

“A location will help us to decide who is the right architect and planning firms, which will then look at that site specifically, and say, ‘What do we need to design for this location?’ which will then drive the ultimate costs and scope of the project.

“So, we completely agree with the foundation,” he added. “We can’t make those final changes today.”

The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce — in concert with the city and University of Arkansas — has not submitted a site proposal yet, said Mayor Lioneld Jordan.

Bentonville has also not submitted a site, said Ed Clifford, president and CEO of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce.

“There’s a lot of different possibilities,” Clifford said, not elaborating on particular sites.

“If the project is successful, we think it will be a huge win for the region,” Clifford said. “I think when you look at the whole package, we have a lot to offer as a region.”

Lane said the center, a nonprofit organization headed by a board, will continue the selection process. The deadline is Aug. 2.

“This is just a piece of information,” he said of the foundation’s position. “It’s information that will be added to our process.”

Fayetteville’s City Council recently passed several ordinances to establish paid parking in the Dickson Street entertainment district, mostly to address the parking concerns of the Walton Arts Center. The program — which will cost nearly $1 million to implement — is designed to raise money for a parking deck. The program anticipates giving $289,000 a year to the center.

“No, it doesn’t change any of my plans,” Jordan said. “We have a really great proposal, partnered with the University of Arkansas, that we’re going to present.”

“It is our intent to submit proposals that will completely convince the WAC board that best location for a new WAC facility is Fayetteville,” said Steve Clark, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce.

Jordan said he does not see the foundation’s decision as any sort of a deal-breaker. He intends to continue to fight for an expansion in Fayetteville.

“As long as I have breath, I do not give up,” Jordan said.

Lane stressed an expansion in another city does not shut the door on Broadway shows and other large performances in Fayetteville. Arts center officials have said an expansion elsewhere will not shut down operations in Fayetteville.

“We see Broadway going into both halls. We see music going into both halls. We see dance going into both halls,” Lane said. “A lot of performing arts institutions have multiple locations.”

“If I were telling you that both venues — hypothetically — would be across the street from each other, I would tell you that both venues would have Broadway shows,” Lane explained.

“There are some artists — pick one, Jerry Seinfeld — you would have to put him in a large hall. But there are thousands of artists that will go into the right hall. And that’s our determination,” Lane said. “Right now, everything goes into the largest hall we have, because we only have one hall.”