BENTONVILLE -- The Ozark Folk Center State Park is losing $2 million a year but can be turned around and will not close, the state Parks and Tourism Commission was told Thursday.
The center was built to preserve and showcase Ozark Mountain culture. It opened in 1973. The culture it was made to preserve isn't endangered anymore, Park Department administrators told the commission at a meeting in Bentonville. Acts that got their start at the folk center now play on Spotify, the popular internet music site, and perform at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers and other popular venues, they said.
And an audience member can get a beer or wine at those other venues. Shows at the 1,000-seat auditorium at the park average 125 attendees while free shows in the Mountain View town center are crowded, commission members were told.
"I think if we had alcohol sales there, it would do fine," Mike Wilson, state parks operations manager, told the commission. The commission met at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Thanden Fieldhouse at the Bentonville Municipal Airport.
Grady Spann, Parks Department director, mentioned other challenges the center faces, such as how the park's cabin no longer has a near-monopoly on lodging in the area. "We used to be the only game in town," he said. "We're not anymore." The department has already tried a wide range of marketing campaigns, he said. None worked.
Mayor Roger Gardner of Mountain View said he doubts beer and wine sales would make much of a dent in losses as large as $2 million. "That's a lot of beer and wine," he said. The issue of allowing such sales at the park has come up before and the city council has been quite clear in its opposition to the plan. Stone County, where Mountain View is located, prohibits liquor sales. Private clubs permits for such sales would require council approval.
A possible compromise on the alcohol issue might be allowing craft beers and wines at the park, Spann told the commission at its meeting. Beyond that one issue, the music concerts could be moved to a smaller, 150-seat venue at the park but that will require some renovation, he said. His department is exploring alternatives, Spann said.
Gardner, who said he was a harmonica musician who performed at the park for more than 20 years, said the core problem was a lack of appeal to a younger audience. He said a theme park for kids on the site's acreage would be an good option if an investor could be found.
NW News on 01/17/2020