Renovated UA music venue opens

$23M project turns Old Field House into 600-seat center

People gather after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
People gather after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville 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.

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 contained 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, chairman 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 for performances, because the 238-seat Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall on campus has been unavailable or was 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, which raised more than $1 billion.

Other private donors were 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."

A private, inaugural concert was held Thursday, and the celebration continued 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. It was built by Manhattan Construction, the same company that built the George W. Bush Presidential Center in University Park, Texas, and the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Metro on 09/20/2015

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