Arts Center Expansion Site Still Being Researched

— A recommendation on an expansion site for the Walton Arts Center is still about three months away, it was announced Tuesday at a meeting of the center’s council meeting.

Also related to the arts center’s growth, it was announced negotiation is continuing to purchase the Arkansas Music Pavilion at the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

Judy Schwab and Jerry Vest, co-chairman of the board’s facilities committee, said a recommendation on the site for the center’s expansion probably won’t come until late winter or early spring.

Meanwhile, the committee is expected to have a report on staff research of 15 sites that were among the 25 sites submitted as an expansion location. Originally, it was thought a final selection of the top two sites would be available in December.

That is now pushed into March or April, according to the timeline.

One of the issues being considered by staff is whether programming can be split between two locations, Schwab said.

Most of the final 15 sites are in Benton County. Fayetteville’s proposal, which expands the arts center on its current Dickson Street campus, is still in play, as are two other Fayetteville sites. The Arvest Ballpark site in Springdale also made the list of 15.

The arts center is looking for a roughly 10-acre site to house a $180 million expansion that would include a 2,200-seat performing arts center, a 600-seat multiuse theater and a smaller black box studio.

The council approved a recommendation by the facilities committee to establish a single member limited liability company to allow Peter Lane, chief executive officer, and Tim Vogt, chief financial officer, to continue negotiations with Brian Crowne, co-owner-operator of the pavilion.

The purchase hinges on gaining a long-term commitment with the mall to allow the pavilion to remain on that property in the future.

The council also approved a motion authoriziing the center to loan the limited liability company up to $480,000 with which to negotiate the purchase.

Terri Trotter, chief operating officer for the arts center, said the $480,000 is not the purchase price for the pavilion.

Lane said the $480,000 was “the amount of money the board set aside to use to negotiate a purchase.” An exact purchase price is still under negotiation, he added.

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