BENTONVILLE -- Record will hold its first event this week, activating it as a downtown event space.
Flintco has worked since April transforming the building at 104 SW A St. from the empty newspaper office of The Benton County Daily Record into Record, a meeting and event center.
Record mural
Just Kids curated street artist Edgar Saner to paint a mural on the east side of Record. Saner will be painting the mural this week.
Source: Staff Report
Ropeswing Hospitality Group owns the building. Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects was the firm that designed the renovations.
The building's footprint remained the same as when Burger Motor Co. was built around the 1950s, said Jordan Garner, Ropeswing sales and marketing manager. Garner added that one of Ropeswing's initiatives is to keep the historical landscape of Northwest Arkansas downtowns.
The 12,000-square-foot Record can be left open as one large space or divided into two smaller rooms. The north room breaks down to about 4,400 square feet, and the south room is about 3,700 square feet. Each room is equipped with an audio-video system, a bar and access to an outdoor area.
Both rooms share access to restrooms and a catering kitchen.
A 1,300-square-foot outdoor veranda at the north side of the building is surrounded by recently planted bamboo shoots that will provide privacy once they are grown.
A glass garage door opens the south room to a 1,300-square-foot patio on the building's east side.
Record has a capacity of 1,600 people and can be used for corporate events, meetings, weddings and other community gatherings, Garner said.
"Our goal is to keep people downtown and spread walkability to other downtown businesses," she said.
It will be one of at least three locations used for the Made by Few conference that will be held in Bentonville Wednesday through Saturday.
Made by Few is "the conference for makers of the web," according to its website. It's organized by the Little Rock design and development agency Few and has been held in Little Rock since its inception in 2012.
"This year we are hosting the conference in Bentonville, Arkansas, which over the past couple of years has been blossoming into a killer place to visit," this year's event page reads.
The International Mountain Bicycling Association World Summit will use the building during its event Nov. 10-12.
There's an increasing demand for meeting space downtown, Kalene Griffith, Visit Bentonville president and CEO, said in the spring.
"The sheer size of this venue will allow us to serve planners who demand not only larger meeting space, but also unique venues," she said.
Record is unique in its location -- just a block west of the downtown square, its flexible uses of space offered and its easy access to nearby businesses, Garner said.
"So many people want an experience, not just an amenity," she said.
For more information about Record, visit www.recorddowntown.com.
NW News on 10/25/2016