SPRINGDALE — The clock is ticking for the Apollo Theater on Emma Avenue.
The City Council discussed possible condemnation of the building Monday in its committee meetings.
AT A GLANCE
Council Action
Springdale’s City Council committees met Tuesday and referred to the full council:
• A new parking ordinance that adjusts the number of required parking spaces for new businesses
• On-call pay for the city fire marshal and a backup battalion chief
• A contract for automatic mutual aid with the Lowell Fire Department
• A construction management contract for the building of three fire stations with Commerce Construction Co.
Source: Staff Report
The owner, Jim Ritchie, told the committee he would like to sell the building if anyone was interested in repairing it.
"I'd like to see it restored to the showplace it once was," Ritchie said. "I'm not a millionaire and I'm too old to do it."
The committee voted to give Ritchie a month to start the selling process on the building or repair it. It will come back to the Council at its second meeting on April 22.
The theater, which opened in September 1949, was known for its decorated lobby, which included a statue of Apollo, a 10-foot tall mirror and a chandelier.
The statue has been moved but the mirror and chandelier are still in the lobby, said Tom Evers, chief building inspector for the city. The roof has been leaking and caused damage to the interior, Evers said.
The stage rotted and was demolished, Evers said. The seating has been removed from the theater but a few seats are still stored in the lobby, he said.
Ritchie, whose family has owned the building at 308 W. Emma Ave. since 1979, said the building still has issues with a leaking roof. The last roof was guaranteed for 25 years but only lasted eight, he said.
"The company that put it on is out of business now," Ritchie said. "If it was in the dry and cleaned up some, it would be more attractive to somebody." Ritchie said he did not know what price he would ask for the building. The building was assessed at $187,450 for tax purposes, according to the Washington County website. The land's value was $43,200, according to the county website.
A music show, the Springdale Jamboree, operated in the theater when the Ritchies purchased it, said Jim Ritchie.
"We still showed movies on the weekend," Ritchie said.
The Apollo Music Theater operated in the building from 1994 to 1997, according to city business records. The Arkansas Opry was in the building from 1999 to 2001, according to records.
The building deteriorated since the music theater closed, according to building officials. The building was inspected by the Building and Fire departments in January 2013 and tagged as uninhabitable, Evers said.
The Fire Department also tagged the building as unsafe for firefighters to enter. Any fire in the building would be fought from the outside.
The committee also decided to move a proposed contract for the Fire Department ambulances to respond to rural areas of Benton County to the full council. The contract with Benton County calls for a payment of $68,774, said Mike Irwin, fire chief.
The contract amount is what the city asked to be paid for its services, Irwin said, up from the $30,000 paid by Benton County last year.
NW News on 03/18/2014