Bentonville Historic Building Gets Renovations For Music Shop, Museum

BENTONVILLE -- Les Key and his family held vintage guitars and posed under Kiss vinyls as local photographer Brenda Wyatt snapped pictures.

The photo op was part of documenting the start of the Meteor Guitar Gallery, a music shop, venue and museum opening in the 1905 circa Meteor Theater in downtown Bentonville. Key has spent most of this year working to renovate the historic theater, bringing back the grand, 300-seat auditorium, stage and vintage acoustic panels.

"Every time I come in, I cry," said Wyatt about the renovations. "It's just so overwhelming. It's amazing."

Key wants to see open mic nights, local musicians playing and musicians looking at some of the first electric guitars and amps ever made in the upstairs museum. Eventually, Key plans guitar lessons, guitar repair service and possibly a cafe.

"This will be a really cool place to hang out," said Key's wife, Alanna.

The store sells unique guitars. Some have never been played, Key said. Brands include 1960s and 1970s guitars from Fender, Harmony and Gibson. Key has Rickenbacker guitars with stenciled tops. Some are 70 years old.

"People are most excited when they come in by the selection of vintage guitars," Key said.

The museum will have about 2,000 pieces of signed memorabilia, amps and instruments, like 1930s upright basses, Key said. He claims an extensive vintage amp collection and some of the first electric guitars made.

"We have some things in here no one has seen or heard before," Alanna Key said.

Les Key wanted to create a music venue that went along with the developing art scene in his hometown, he said. The music museum will be among the rarest in the country, he said.

The store had a soft opening June 13, said Les Key, who runs the store with his two sons, Caleb, 16, and Mason, 14. The first day drew about 100 people.

"It's been a whirlwind, but it's all coming together," Key said.

The Meteor building sat vacant for years, since sometime in the 1990s when a salon business left, said Trey Ferguson, whose family owns the building. A lot of people looked at the property, but the family was looking for someone who wanted to restore the building, Ferguson said. Instead of leasing, the Fergusons used it for storage.

Key had looked at the building from the outside for years and loved it. He dreamed of having a music shop and knew he wanted it to be in the Meteor building, he said. When he and his family moved back to Bentonville in June 2013, they decided to make the dream come true.

Ferguson was thrilled.

"It seemed like it was meant to be," Ferguson said. "It's a huge blessing for our family."

Someone finally plans to bring the Meteor back to life and restore it, Ferguson said. The store, museum and venue is ideal because it reflects what the original building was meant for.

Bentonville residents are watching Key's renovations. The downtown theater needed to be saved, said Larry Horton, a part-time historian and Bentonville resident. The theater was, and remains, vital to the community, he said.

The Aug. 1, 1927, grand opening of the Plaza, a name that replaced the Meteor Theater, drew nearly 14,000 people, Key said. In the 1960s and 1970s, the theater remained an attraction for Bentonville residents looking for something to do, Horton said.

Horton went to the theater nearly every week, he said.

"It was dark. It had a balcony. It had a Citizens (Bank) clock that was great," Horton said.

The Plaza reminds people of the past even as Bentonville grows, Horton said.

"We've lost so much of the small-town feel through the changes of time and population," he said.

Back in the retail shop, Key held a Taylor guitar and stood among about 240 guitars hung carefully in five rooms. Vintage amps lined the walls. A conga drum set stood in the middle of the front room. Artwork by local artists featuring music themes hung here and there.

"It's been a labor of love," Key said.