Faulkner Performing Arts Center opens in Fayetteville at the University of Arkansas

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Jim and Joyce Faulkner (center) listen to members of the Razorback Marching Band play Friday in front of the new Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center following a a ribbon cutting on the campus in Fayetteville. The Faulkners donated $6 million to the university in 2012 toward renovating and remodeling the Field House into a performing arts center.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Jim and Joyce Faulkner (center) listen to members of the Razorback Marching Band play Friday in front of the new Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center following a a ribbon cutting on the campus in Fayetteville. The Faulkners donated $6 million to the university in 2012 toward renovating and remodeling the Field House into a performing arts center.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas has a new venue for musical performances.

After more than three years of planning and construction, university officials dedicated the $23 million Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center on Friday.

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For more about the history of the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center, which used to be called the Old Field House and Men’s Gymnasium, go to www.arkansaspreserv….

Source: Staff Report

The center, at 453 N. Garland Ave., used to be called the Old Field House or the Men's Gymnasium. Built in 1937, it has hosted Razorbacks basketball games and concerts by Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry and Dave Brubeck.

When Barnhill Arena opened in 1954, the men's basketball team and athletic department moved out and the physical education department took over the building. The Old Field House housed the University Museum from 1984 through 2006. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

"It's been a venerable facility over a lot of years," Interim Chancellor Dan Ferritor said Friday.

As a performing arts center, the building will give more than a dozen student and faculty ensembles a place to showcase their talents.

"Buildings like these help awe and inspire performers and patrons," said Ronda Mains, chairwoman of the university's music department.

Mains said the department has had to rent space at the Walton Arts Center, Alma Performing Arts Center, Arend Arts Center in Bentonville and area churches because the 238-seat Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall on campus has been unavailable or is too small.

"The Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall has served our students and our department faithfully for decades and will continue to do so for more intimate performances," Mains said. "But the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center opens up so many new possibilities and will enable us to reach a much larger audience."

She said the music department has booked the Faulkner Center for more than 150 events this academic year, adding, "Many other organizations both on and off campus will use the facility for performances and lectures."

The 39,400-square-foot facility was renovated in part through a $6 million gift from the Faulkners. Jim Faulkner is a retired Little Rock advertising executive and was a member of the steering committee for the university's Campaign for the Twenty-First Century that raised more than $1 billion.

Other private donors included Lee and Beverly Bodenhamer, the Jo Ella and Bill Toller family, Nick and Carolyn Walton Cole and Peggy Parks. The Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission in late 2012 pledged $500,000 of local hotel, motel and restaurant tax proceeds to the project. University bonds backed by student facilities fees and campus reserves were also used.

"This is such an important addition to our campus," Ferritor said. "It's a huge step forward in our ability to support and advance the performing arts."

"Saying thanks to Jim and Joyce Faulkner for their generosity, it just isn't enough," he added.

A private inaugural concert was held Thursday, and the celebration was set to continue Friday night with a free performance for the public.

The center, with seating for about 600 and a stage that will accommodate as many as 250 performers, was designed by HGA of Minneapolis, Allison Architects of Fayetteville and Ruby Architects of Little Rock and was built by Manhattan Construction, the same company that built the George W. Bush Presidential Center in University Park, Texas, and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

NW News on 09/19/2015

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