ROGERS -- The Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion will expand in time for the 2020 season, Walton Arts Center officials announced Friday.
The concert venue will increase its capacity from 10,000 to 11,000, meaning more acts may consider performing there, spokeswoman Jennifer Wilson said. Some entertainers will not perform at venues that don't seat more than 10,000 people.
Expansion donors
Below are donors for the $13.9 million Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion expansion project:
w Live Nation
w Johnelle Hunt, who paid the AMP’s debt. The stage house will be named the Johnelle Hunt Pavilion.
w Walmart extended its naming rights to 2044.
w General Mills extended its sponsorship of the lawn through 2035.
w Tyson extended its sponsorship of the concessions buildings through 2028.
w Procter & Gamble extended its sponsorship of the box office through 2028.
Source: Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion
The $13.9 million expansion will include:
• A new box office.
• An expanded main entry plaza with more concession stands and restrooms.
• A covered plaza at the top of the lawn that will add 15,000 square feet of viewing and event space.
• Two outdoor plazas for two concession stands and 56 restroom stalls.
• A reconfigured entrance on the north side of the venue.
• Tiered seating at the front of the lawn for 1,200 people.
Wilson explained that, although the venue is adding capacity for 1,200 people at the front of the lawn, it is losing about 200 seats elsewhere.
The covered plaza will give the AMP the capacity to host private events during shows, said Peter Lane, president and chief executive officer of the Walton Arts Center. The tiered seating will have portable chairs so it can go with or without chairs depending on the event. The reconfigured entrance is intended to make it easier for people to get in and out of the venue.
Construction will begin in November 2019 at the end of the next year's concert season and be finished in time for the 2020 season, Lane said. The Walton Arts Center owns the Walmart AMP.
Lane announced a five-year partnership with Live Nation Entertainment, making the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company the AMP's preferred concert promoter.
"This means that Live Nation will have the preferred rights to promote live music events here at the Walmart AMP," Lane said.
Lane said the partnership will go into effect immediately and allow the venue to continue to bring in big-name performers.
Live Nation has brought in acts such as Kesha with Macklemore and Keith Urban, Wilson said.
Lane explained the AMP has worked with Live Nation since 2014, but now has a formal agreement for the company to promote many shows. The AMP will remain an open venue, meaning other promoters will still be allowed to promote shows there, he said.
The AMP has raised $13 million of the $13.9 million needed for the expansion, he said. Wilson wouldn't say specifically how much money each donor gave.
Topgolf, a a Texas-based entertainment company, filed site plans with the city in October showing the venue being built in a grassy spot often used for parking at AMP.
"We have a shared parking usage agreement with the Hunt Ventures group as well as with a number of the businesses," Lane said. "Although we're going to lose the Topgolf area, we're working on another area right across the street that will be available for next season, so the parking impact will be minimal."
The AMP opened in 2014. More than 200,000 people attended events at the AMP this year, said Brian Crowne, vice president of the venue.
NW News on 11/03/2018