El Dorado arts hub inches closer with requests OK’d

El Dorado’s planned downtown arts and entertainment district is one step closer to accruing nearly $10 million after the El Dorado Works Board approved two economic development funding requests Tuesday.

A $9.47 million allotment will be used to update and transform several buildings in the Union Square District, according to Austin Barrow, president and chief operating officer of El Dorado Festivals and Events.

El Dorado Festivals and Events is a private, nonprofit that is working to provide economic opportunities for the city through the creation of an entertainment district that is expected to cost $80 million.

The organization is $20 million short of reaching that total, but Barrow said it will continue to raise funds during construction and hopes to secure the $9.47 million after presenting the proposal to the City Council tonight.

El Dorado Works Board Chairman Robert Reynolds said the nearly century-old buildings, namely the Griffin Auto and McWilliams buildings and the Rialto Theatre, will serve as performance venues and art galleries. He expects the transformed Griffin Auto building to house a restaurant, cabaret and performance hall. It will be able to hold about 3,000 people.

The project also will include a play area for children, an open-air market and an adjacent amphitheater that Reynolds said will hold between 7,000 and 8,000 people.

Reynolds said the project will be completed in phases starting now and stretching until 2018 or 2019. The first phase should be completed by 2017, Reynolds said.

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