With a little more than a month remaining until the scheduled completion of the Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers, project manager David Swain was beginning to have his doubts about the schedule.
Swain and others met in late April for one of their weekly progress updates. He pulled up a live video feed of construction on the $11 million amphitheater, and what the industry veteran saw was unnerving.
Frames crucial for holding the 35,000-square-foot overhead covering had yet to be erected. There were no stage side walls at a venue deemed so important to Northwest Arkansas that Wal-Mart and billionaire business leader Johnelle Hunt had made significant contributions to it.
Perhaps, Swain thought, the accelerated project timetable and the harsh winter that slowed and sometimes delayed construction was catching up with him and the three companies handling construction.
June was approaching even more rapidly than expected.
"With 37 days to completion, we were wondering if we could make it," Swain said. "To do $11 [million] to $12 million worth of construction in seven months? It's quite a feat. To achieve this, in possibly the worst winter in Arkansas history, it's something.
"It's been stressful. This project moved so rapidly. It's been intense."
Fears about blowing the timetable have disappeared, and workers will be putting on the finishing touches this week, just in time to hit their June 1 deadline. Less than a year has passed since Hunt announced a 6-acre donation to the Walton Arts Center for the purpose of relocating the Arkansas Music Pavilion from Fayetteville to Rogers. Wal-Mart joined the cause in February as the venue's 10-year title sponsor with a $2.5 million donation.
Country artist Blake Shelton headlines the first show at the pavilion June 7, formally opening it. Most recently, the pavilion was at the Washington County Fairgrounds. The pavilion is being hailed as an economic catalyst and critical quality-of-life component for Northwest Arkansas. It is a significant transformation from its infancy when it was in a parking lot of the Northwest Arkansas Mall.
"It's been an evolution," said Mark Henneberger, Wal-Mart senior vice president for shows and events. "Now up here in Rogers, it is a world-class facility. I think we're going to attract some surprising big names over the next few years."
Rock For Bach
Walton Arts Center Chief Executive Officer Peter Lane got his first glimpse of the Arkansas Music Pavilion before he took a job in Northwest Arkansas.
Lane, hired from Philadelphia in 2011, was on a tour of the area when he came across the chain-link fence around the then-privately owned pavilion at the Northwest Arkansas Mall. Seeing the pavilion and learning its purpose got the wheels turning in Lane's head.
As Lane, former CEO of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, puts it, he saw the opportunity to have "rock pay for Bach."
It was a strategy Lane had employed in previous areas. While the Arkansas Music Pavilion was generating less than $500,000 a year at the time, he saw big potential.
"We talked a lot about sort of a business model I had worked from in the past which is using net revenues from contemporary music to support the mission of arts," Lane said. "You use net revenue from shows to help pay for cultural education and mission-critical items or programs that are a central component for our mission."
So, in 2011 the Walton Arts Center purchased the pavilion. Revenue quadrupled that year to about $1.2 million.
Initially, the intention was to keep the pavilion at the Northwest Arkansas Mall. A lease agreement fell through after the mall changed ownership groups, and the search began for a new location.
Throughout its time at the fairgrounds, organizers were hopeful they could one day find a permanent home for the pavilion. That wasn't going to be possible without available land, making the donation from Hunt such a critical piece of the pavilion's relocation.
Donations such as the naming rights gift from Wal-Mart have helped the Walton Arts Center design a structure that is big enough -- the stage is 5,590 square feet -- and nice enough backstage to accommodate big-name artists on tour. In addition to improved technical capabilities, the pavilion was designed to allow a minimal amount of sound to escape, reducing the disturbance to nearby neighbors.
"From the ground up, this will be a wonderful experience for the artists as well as the patrons," Henneberger said. "They had the opportunity to start with a clean slate, benchmark world-class venue around the country.
"I think they landed in a pretty good spot."
Wal-Mart will be able to use the venue for private functions such as its Saturday morning meetings for associates. Henneberger said it is possible that Wal-Mart will use its considerable clout to help attract acts, something it did in landing Shelton for the opener.
Beyond the entertainment aspect, the venue is being hailed for its potential economic effect.
Weekend Destination
Open since 1992, the Walton Arts Center is widely recognized as an economic catalyst for downtown Fayetteville. Dickson Street, arguable the city's most iconic stretch of road, was transformed from a place people generally tried to avoid at night to a hub of the city's nightlife.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has had a similar effect on downtown Bentonville. The renowned museum sparked development that is ongoing in the city.
Those involved with Rogers and the Arkansas Music Pavilion believe a similar boom is possible there. Land on either side of the interstate has been a popular place for development, though much of it slowed as the economy took a downward turn.
Concerts and other events at the pavilion -- at least 15 dates per year -- will generate considerable interest from developers because of the number of visitors traveling to the area for shows. The pavilion can accommodate about 6,000 at full capacity.
"I think the economic impact of where it will be will be incredible," Lane said. "Look at what happened at the Dickson Street facility, 22 years ago. I think you will see a similar impact to restaurants and hotels and services in Rogers."
Success at the Arkansas Music Pavilion will also help the Walton Arts Center as it works through a $23 million renovation of its Dickson Street facility.
Some businesses have already noticed an economic boost. An estimated 35 percent of concert-goers at the old pavilion came from outside Benton and Washington counties, meaning events will be a help to the hotel industry.
Within three days of each of the pavilion's major concert announcements, the Embassy Suites, which sits less than 100 yards away, has sold out of rooms, General Manager David Lang said. Traditionally, hotels in the area have survived on heavy weekday business from Wal-Mart and its vendors.
Now, hotels see the possibility for more consistent weekend business.
"We really are a weekend destination now too, and not just a weekday destination," Lang said of Northwest Arkansas. "We've been able to even out. Now it's a nice, smooth occupancy for all the hotels in the area."
No formal plans have been announced, but the pavilion has sparked talk of additional retail and restaurant development just off the interstate.
"Anytime you get a new attraction like this, it's great for the city," said Allyson Twiggs Dyer, executive director of the Rogers Convention and Visitors Bureau. "This is a venue that had been deemed a priority for residents in Northwest Arkansas. Not only is that priority being fulfilled for the residents of Northwest Arkansas, it's happening in Rogers. It's another great amenity."
Swain and his crew aren't quite ready to celebrate.
Because of the intense timetable associated with construction and the pressure felt to get it finished on time, Swain has lived by a strict project schedule. Swain, a live-music fan, has even scheduled a date for when he can get maximum enjoyment out of the pavilion. Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss and Jason Isbell are part of a July 7 bill at the pavilion.
It's during that concert, featuring some of Swain's favorite acts, that he expects to have a full appreciation for the pavilion.
"I think by then I can go and relax and not be looking at the details or thinking whether everything is just right," Swain said. "That's when I can really enjoy it for what it is."
Metro on 05/27/2014