FAYETTEVILLE — Officials with the Arkansas Music Pavilion are awaiting word about how much it will cost to repair damage that brought down the outdoor concert venue’s tent-like structure Saturday.
Insurance adjusters visited the Washington County Fairgrounds on Monday to examine the damage to the collapsed structure, smashed chairs, overturned portable toilets and wrecked chain-link fence around the venue.
“They’re assessing the situation,” said Jill Holcomb, marketing director for the AMP. “We haven’t moved anything yet.”
Cleanup operations will begin today, she said.
A rainstorm accompanied by high wind Saturday preceded the structure’s collapse. Holcomb said she believes the tent around the AMP came down about 4 or 5 p.m. No one was around to see what happened.
Amy Jankowski, a Tulsa-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the agency had no specific data on wind speeds in Fayetteville Saturday.
The weather service received three reports of damage, including downed power lines and damage to large trees consistent with wind speeds of about 60 mph, she said.
Fayetteville police Sgt. Craig Stout said police did not take any reports of damage to public facilities Saturday, typically the only type of damage reports they would log.
No event was going on when the AMP collapse occurred and there was no staff there, according to AMP officials. Holcomb said there is an emergency evacuation in place if a serious storm were to approach the AMP during a performance.
The AMP’s next event, the first Taste of Country Festival featuring Miranda Lambert, is scheduled Aug. 17.
“I want people to understand the concerts will still go on and people can still buy tickets,” Holcomb said. “We plan to have everything in place for the Miranda Lambert concert.”
The AMP opened in 2005 in the parking lot of Northwest Arkansas Mall with the semipermanent tent-like covering. During its six years there, storms never brought the structure down, Holcomb said.
Officials with Walton Arts Center, which bought the AMP in early 2011, announced a $4 million expansion plan for the venue last September when it was still at the Northwest Arkansas Mall. The goal was to make the venue more permanent, including fixed seating, at the mall site.
The arts center and the mall’s management company, however, could not reach lease terms in time for the work to start or for the 2012 concert season. That prompted the move to the fairgrounds at least as a temporary home.
Holcomb said Monday there have been no new developments in discussions to move the AMP back to the mall or to expand it.
AT A GLANCE
Still Promoting
The weekend’s collapse of the Arkansas Music Pavilion didn’t slow down efforts to promote upcoming shows. The venue announced Monday that country singer Alan Jackson will perform Sept. 14.
Source: Staff Report