If the Walton Family Foundation has anything to do with it, the proposed expansion of the Walton Arts Center will occur in Bentonville.
The foundation weighed in on the future of its namesake organization in a letter from foundation executive director Buddy D. Philpot to Walton Arts Center president Peter Lane on Tuesday.
“We do not foresee being the lead donor for a new performing arts facility in a location other than Bentonville,” the letter said.
“A Bentonville location will serve as a good complement to the existing Walton Arts Center facility in Fayetteville, as facilities in Bentonville and Fayetteville would give our region strong performing arts ‘anchors,’” Philpot wrote. “This location would further complement and strengthen the growth and revitalization that will be occurring in downtown Bentonville, including the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.”
We do not foresee being the lead donor for a new performing arts facility in a location other than Bentonville.
The Walton Arts Center has been accepting proposals for expansion of their facilites since they announced their criteria for expansion back in March. The deadline for submissions for those proposals was set for August 2.
Jodi Beznoska, Vice President of Communications at Walton Arts Center told us that the new information provided by the Walton Family Foundation would not interrupt the site selection process.
“This feedback will be included in the evaluation process,” Beznoska said. “It will not change the site selection process, and once we hit August 2, our board will use the information as just one piece of the puzzle to make their decision.”
Beznoska said that the center welcomed the feedback from the Walton family.
“It’s not saying anything new or different to say that the Walton Family Foundation has been one of our biggest supporters, so it is important to hear what they have to say,” Beznoska said. “(Their feedback) is something that we have been asking for for some time.”
The foundation currently contributes a grant in the amount of about one-million dollars per year of the Walton Arts Center’s current approximate ten-million dollar annual operating budget.
Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan has said on numerous occasions that it is a priority of his administration to make sure the proposed expansion of the Walton Arts Center occur in Fayetteville.
Last month, the City of Fayetteville approved a paid parking plan for the entertainment district that includes about $289,000 annually to be designated to the center. Jordan’s Chief of Staff Don Marr said at a town hall meeting recently that the designated revenue for WAC is aimed at keeping the expansion in Fayetteville and addressing their number one customer service issue, which is parking.
The allocation made to the center in the paid parking plan is not contingent on the center expanding in Fayetteville, however.
Jordan told the Northwest Arkansas Times that Fayetteville has not submitted a proposal to the Walton Arts Center yet, but that he isn’t giving up on the possibility of the center expanding in Fayetteville.
“No, it doesn’t change any of my plans,” Jordan told the Times. “We have a really great proposal, partnered with the University of Arkansas, that we’re going to present.”
The Walton Family Foundation also addressed concerns about the size and scope of the project, particularly in the current economic climate.
In October 2008, the Walton Arts Center Council announced the completion of a facility feasibility study which cited the need for $180 million in expansion and proposed a 2,200-seat theater, a 600-seat multi-use space, and a 100-seat black box studio.
“We feel the expansion as currently proposed is simply too large in terms of scope and cost,” Philpot wrote. “We recommend holding off on making a final decision on this for a period of time.
“This would allow any proposed expansion to be reexamined within the context of the current economic climate and the future potential impact of other Northwest Arkansas cultural amenities now being planned,” read the letter.
Beznoska said that the cost and scope of the project will be determined once the site for expansion is selected.
“The $180 million number that is out there is really just a placeholder. The actual cost of the expansion will really depend on the site,” she said. “Once we’ve selected a site, things like selecting an architect, how the building will interact with the surroundings, materials, all kinds of things will factor into the actual cost.”
Of course, the top criteria listed in the site selection process is funding.
“Funding is our top criteria, but there are 13 14 other criteria,” Beznoska said. “This is part of a much larger process, and that process will go on.”
Read the Walton Family Foundation’s letter
Like I have always said, this is the only opinion that matters!
None of us can compete with the Walton billions!
If they want it in Bentonville, it will go in Bentonville!
WAC may go to Bentonville, but I won’t.
That’s bullcrap.
I don’t think anybody saw this coming!
Maybe when the Waltons take their flagship theater to Bentonville, they’ll let us change the name and facade of the Center on Dickson.
The Fayetteville city council wants to charge visitors to every business downtown for parking, then give it to an organization that has threatened to build elsewhere all along. The half a million in meters aren’t even in place, but the ulterior motive for the ordinance is already shot.
Now that the WAC’s intent is official, Mayor Jordan *still* believes appeasing the WAC will make them keep Fayetteville as their one and only. Seriously? What flavor of Kool-Aid makes him think wealth from the world’s largest retailer can even be humored by a cash-strapped public university and a town that can’t afford to light a bike path?
This is not leadership, but a float trip down D’Nile. Did we not learn any lessons from Drake Field? Fayetteville would certainly remain a thriving commerical passenger hub after the big new regional airport next to Wal*Mart was built, right? R…r…r…right?
So what should we as a city do about it? We can’t compete with the Walton’s money. That’s a given. I’d say we must accept the fact that it’s moving to Bentonhell. At best we’d keep the Walton name on our facility and get the 2nd rate shows. I don’t like that idea.
Is it possible that Fayetteville could run such a center without Walton cash? It might be if other donors like P&G don’t follow Wally World’s lead and pull funding and if the parking revenue actually meets expectations.
I don’t know. We could sit around and cry about it or develop a new plan.
Concerts! Fun ones.
Just a thought
C’mon people, this has been the plan for a long time! They are just pitting cities against each other in hopes for better funding deals. There is nothing we can do to keep them here short of eclipsing the Walton money which we can’t. Quite frankly, I don’t care; I’ll be happy to see them go. Hopefully then they’ll pull the stupid paid parking on Dickson. We’ll loose a bunch of money, but in the end it will be a better Dickson st. I think many commenters have been envisioning this scenario for months… I don’t know how our city admin. can be so daft to think letting them extort us for parking money would change a thing.
I enjoy art but I feel it should be self sustaining or it isn’t a good business plan. I work in the a/c industry… everyone loves a/c, it enhances our community, but our city council doesn’t throw in a dime to help air condition buildings. That would be stupid and I don’t see how art is any different.
Who owns the building?
Fayetteville really needs to not bother with having a second rate Walton facility and take over control. Perhaps declare it part of the parks system and keep it up with those A&P funds. I bet we have plenty of volunteers to keep it staffed, and in the end, the events would be more Funky Fayetteville.
It’d be the perfect venue for some expanded local music events, and a radio show for Mr. Shirley to run (Pickin Post). Maybe something along the lines of Austin City Limits or at worst, Thacker Mountain Radio in Oxford.
This doesn’t mean the decision is made. It means it’s game on. Bentonville wouldn’t have a chance without the Walton Family weighing in like this, and that’s the only reason they are. The proposal Fayetteville is going to make is just too good for them to compete with any other way.
There’s more to this than money, and even if there wasn’t, don’t think for a second that there aren’t donors in Fayetteville capable of kicking in the $10-$20M the Walton Family might give.
Quick, somebody ask FoxFire what we should do.
Dude has a genius bone for business, yo.
I have an idea. Take the money the city was going to give to the bloated, financially unsound, and elite serving Walton Arts Center and give it instead to the Fayetteville Public Library, which provides free quality programming along with books, dvds, cds, magazines, laptops, fishing poles, internet use, resume classes, etc., to everyone in Washington County. Oh, and free parking. Freely and equally. We have one of the top libraries in the country, and it has proven itself to be an extremely efficient manager of city funds. Imagine how far the library could stretch the parking dollars.
@burgerboy YES!
Relax people. The Walton’s assure us that the WAC on Dickson will stay open, regardless of where the new, bigger, nicer place will wind up. Hmmmm. There’s something about this that sounds awfully familiar…Ah, yes, if I recall correctly, a Walton once said that we Fayettevillians shouldn’t worry about the new, bigger, nicer airport they got built in Highfill because Drake Field will still have plenty of commerical airlines in operation.
New money bullying old neighbors around.
They can buy their “hey I’m sophisticated now” art centers, shi shi “oh I’m so cultured” museums and fancy pants “hey we’re a real city now” boutique hotels. But the fact is Bentonville is nothing but a characterless Dallas suburb wannabe town occupied by cubicle dwelling white collar types who need a few more distractions to make their monotonous unfulfilling jobs bearable. Flash forward five years and they will realise how disinterested tourists will actually be of their half a billion dollar art museum situated in an otherwise incredibly unremarkable Arkansas town. Even the employees at Crystal Bridges know what a dreadful place it is, thats why most of them live in Fayetteville.
Its painful to watch all this money funneled into this town all out of hubris. A determination to make “my hometown” better than that one down the highway…at ANY cost. So this is what billionaires do with their time?
Toldja! Toldja! Sorry. Just had to get that in there.
Mr. Petty—really. Really? I mean, really. You cannot still believe that just because the Mayor cancelled the furlough day for the employees that all of a sudden everything is yippee-skippee and the City has anything more than a poorly-executed plan to let Peter Lane line his pockets a little more parking fees.
So where is this “proposal”? How much more of the city are we going to give away to people who can’t manage what they have now? Or are we going to keep it a secret from the citizens until it is presented to the WAC? That’s real open government for you.
Fayetteville doesn’t have anyone around that’s going to pony up 10 – 20 million bucks to build a bigger arts center. Or are they part of that mystery group you spoke to who opposed the motorcycle rally? Or another group you fabricated in your imagination?
The facility is great. Let the WAC leave and let’s get some people in who really know how to run a place like that. Lots of other cities run their own. Probably without a manager that gets paid more than the top 5 city officials combined. Why can’t we?
Just my opinion. To which their own everyone has the right.
I used to work for the local P&G office.
Although I am not still in the “know”, I can guarantee that if the WAC moves to Bentonville, so will their sponsorship money!
Almost all of the Proctoids live here in Fayetteville ( with pride) and personally probably don’t want to see the money move north, but the whole point of the sponsorship is not to please the employees. The sponsorship is a form of advertisement that puts their name in front of consumers….and Walmart. One of the WAC board members is the local P&G team leader, Jeff Shomburger.
Over the years P&G has fought against Walmart to move their office, but they have steadfastly ignored the request and the tracks of other vendors on their way to the suburbs. The sad part is that even if they withhold the sponsorship money, there are many Benton county vendors that collectively outspend even the mighty P&G.
@Monroe – I can’t share the details of the proposal with you until after the submission date. I’m sorry but you’ll have to wait until then.
And on the rest… you’ll just have to believe me (or not) that people who are much more closely involved with big money in Fayetteville than the two of us have not lost their confidence in Fayetteville’s ability to get the funding for the expansion.
If there’s anything that will ensure Bentonville is selected, it’s Fayetteville’s abundance of armchair cynics and chicken littles.
This announcement exposes the site selection process as the farce many of us thought it was to begin with. Even if the plans are scaled back to half the cost of the original estimate it would still be in the $100 million range. No one besides the Waltons has that type of cash to spend on a performing arts center. They aren’t making this decision because of what anyone in Fayetteville says; they are doing it to build a monument to themselves in Bentonville.
The City of Fayetteville needs to turn it’s attention to making plans for a post-WAC future in the city. The time and energy that has gone into the site selection proposal should now be directed at finding a new sponsor for the center and finding funding for the Fayetteville Performing Arts Center. Allowing the WAC to keep control of the present facility would be as bad as their abandonment of the city by removing the premier performing arts center from town.
Let the WAC leave. We can turn the building into low-income housing. It won’t be as pretty as Hillcrest but it’ll do. Then we can tear up the pavement in the parking lot and put the park back that used to be there.
Whatever happens, can we please not do what Armchair cynic wants to do with the space? Low Income housing in the middle of the entertainment district? Please tell me that is a joke
Bentonville’s completely devoid of culture and diversity.
Throw ‘em a bone, I say.
And get the Waltons out of Fayetteville. They wanna buy a city? They already own B’ville.
Isn’t it interesting in a creepy surreal way that walmart has made bentonville into just the kind of small town america they’ve destroyed almost everywhere else.
@burgerboy I like where your head’s at.
WWFFD (What Would FoxFire Do) – He’d probably turn the place into a combination art house, massage parlor, late night discotheque, hostel. It would be an all volunteer workforce and the facilities would be tax payer funded. Donations would be accepted, but thrown into an everlasting bonfire in the front foyer.
Hmm. That just…might…work.
It’s not like the place has many good shows. I guess if you like broadway, but I don’t.
Let the city take it over and actually get good bands to play it. Far more interesting that would be then what it is now.
Let’s focus energies on what can occupy that prime location after WAC leaves. The possibilities excite me. Refurbish the exterior, making it an architectural intrigue and cultural destination that graces everything from phone book covers to regional travel guides. Imagine the kind of multipurpose, mixed-use showcase of everything local and grand. Rotating festivals, grassroots static and performing arts, food, music, indie film, etc. I have genuine confidence that homespun organization and creativity can shape the spot’s purpose into a nexus of local pride (not unlike the Farmer’s Market, First Thursday, FPLibrary, parks, etc.), instead of something alien, ugly, divisive, and exclusive like the WAC.
WAC represents an obtusely top-heavy, corporate, puppet-string-pulling presence on Dickson Street. It completely bullied local government over pay parking, and squats over its turf like a red brick bully. Get that WAC group out, along with all the lampreys in city council who spinelessly cower to them at our greater expense. Walton influence on Dickson Street may have made the area more financially solvent, but we’ve crept towards “Pinnacle Hills South” over the last few years. The WAC vision of downtown Fayetteville does not match local character and potential. WAC relocation would be a blessing for both Fayetteville and Bentonville. How can we speed this transition?
well, how are the “powers that be” going to justify paid parking now? it is a shame that the people of fayetteville, a city known because of its state university, have so little to show in the form of education. make your politicans accountable!
I am encouraged by the amount of support there seems to be for the Waltons to head north.
Paint it white, then let local artists muralize the crap out of it. Burn incense in the lobbies to rid Fayetteville of ugly corporate influence. Then let er rip on the local activities and events. A helluva music festival could be hosted there. A helluva film festival could be centered there. Radio studios and local programming and shows could be housed there.
Get up and go and take your new money with you. Fayetteville will be better off in the long run.
Fayetteville will be better off if we make a great proposal and win the selection. Which is very possible.
So the Waltons will donate $10M if it lands in Bentonville, or only half that if it lands elsewhere. That’s not really a showstopper, folks.
I’m going to pull this card… How does anyone know more about the Fayetteville funding situation than all of the local leaders who have been working on this, who are still optimistic?
Matt, we’ll see. I think most of us just view this entire process as a dog and pony show with a foregone conclusion for moving to Bentonville.
I think if anything, the comments show that Fayetteville’s residents actually care about the arts and would be PISSED and hurt if WAC heads to Benton County.
IF the proposal doesn’t land the WAC expansion, I say let them take it all north and leave us in Fayetteville to promote our own arts community.
Ideally we’d keep the main WAC, but a second tier facility with the major programming heading to Benton County is not as desireable as having a more local, organic community run Arts Center without Waltons pulling the strings.
Offchamber is dead on. Blind optimism won’t get the deal done, yet politicians stick with that tired mule. WAC is like the date that took you along even thou they were looking for someone else better. It is better to let them go. Even thou everyone heard them make veiled threats and the politicians ignored the obvious, an still do, with W.F.F. disclosing their wishes it is done. Let it go.
Stop pretending they want or care about Fayetteville.
Utilize it for indoor tennis courts. Just kidding.
turn is into a Burlesque House! three min sensual dances interspersed with 2 min Vaudevillian style entertainers, fire eaters, jugglers, unicyclists,… and definitely serve booze during the shows.
and music shows,
and art shows…
imagine the library absorbing it as a community art space and academy, rarely bring in big acts and keep it funky
Sounds to me that the consensus, at least on this board, is that we like the venue, but we don’t like the WAC, the people who are running it, how they are managing it and how they have held the city hostage.
The property is owned by the City and the University. Let the WAC organization move north. They can’t take the building with them. There are lots of qualified, experienced people in the Fayetteville area that can manage and run a performing and fine arts center. If the City is going to give funding to the endeavor, let them give it to a group that can actually run the facility without killing it with bad management, over-staffing and high salaries.
Oh, and Mr. Petty?, you have no clue about how involved I am with “big money in Fayetteville” and their level of confidence. If the local leaders know so damn much, why don’t they share with the rest of us?
City government should be open and accessible. Hiding this proposal and the thought process behind it does nothing to help that. As I said before, the City was great about having a lot of public input for the new parking program. Even though I don’t agree with some of it, there was a great opportunity to provide input and it was, I thought, a very open and transparent process.
So now you are hiding all this? Sounds like just what Peter Lane would want. The “great unwashed” wouldn’t understand this kind of high finance anyway, would we? I guess your intellectual superiority is just too much for poor little ol’ me, Mr. Petty. Please take care of this very complex situation so I can go about my simple little life without a further care and trust that you and all the other “local leaders who have been working on this…” will do what’s best for me. After all, that’s what you always do, isn’t it?
Sorry, I don’t buy it. At least not with parking fees, anyway.
Just my opinion. To which their own everyone has the right.
You guys really ought to go over to the Bentonville Blyer website and see all the concerned citizens of Bentonville going on and on about the WAC location.
Them suburbanites are being downright nasty about this mess.
I’m willing to concede that perhaps Fayetteville does have a knockout proposal brewing. I’m looking forward to seeing it.
Anyways, thanks for standing up for what you think is right, Petty. I’m not saying Monroe’s tantrum was fully deserved (it was pretty funny), but you have to admit you’re kinda being a tease here.
I’ve seen John Prine and Iris Demint in Eureka Springs
I saw Townes VanZant in Eureka springs
I saw Guy Clark in Eureka Springs
I saw the Eroica Trio at WAC:
the lighting was terrible, the sound was bad.
Unfortunate for me– a paid top dollar for the good seats.
My point being, WAC cannot even compete with a remote village of 1700.
I paid to park– don’t really care.
@Monroe – We can’t talk about the details of our proposal publicly until it’s too late for our competitors to alter theirs in response. That’s a sound negotiating tactic, and it doesn’t need more defense than that.
And you’re right, I don’t have any idea how involved you are with “big money.” So why don’t you enlighten me and explain to me why I should believe you and your opinion on this issue over those who I already know to have been working very closely on this proposal? It’s a sincere question. If you really want your elected leaders to stop working to land the WAC expansion in Fayetteville, convince me why you know better. If your argument is compelling and grounded in facts, I’m one elected leader ready to listen and change my tune.
Zapp, it was fully deserved because Petty says he listens, but his past actions shows he either didn’t get it or he has other agendas. The latter, I suspect, since I rarely see anything done with a lick of common sense. I.E… like taking someone’s property. If you didn’t buy it and no one gave it to you, then it ain’t yours. My 8 year old knows that much.
rofl–
Under common law, Mr. Petty actually had some claim to that tricycle, as its deteriorating condition indicated that it was abandoned. I’ll bet your eight-year-old didn’t know that.
I disagree w/Petty on a number of things, but at least he has the stones to come in here (and other sites) and broaden the conversation. Whereas some folks talk about their big connections but don’t put their name to it. Like I could say I’m a Starship Commander, and no one could prove otherwise. Kinda loses its impact.
Using rofl’s 8-year old logic, the people who overran this continent (who didn’t buy most of it, and didn’t have it given to them… they just took it) are not rightful owners.
Right on. Respect Matt’s willingness to engage the anonymous horde.
@Mr. Petty–
I can’t fault anything you said in your last post. Since, as you say, there is sound negotiating tactics at work here, we certainly don’t want to debate it in this forum. And we can leave it at that. Still, I don’t have to like proposals and plans being made regarding the expenditure of the taxpayer’s dollars being done outside the public eye.
And please, please read my posts, all of them, on this subject. I DO NOT want the performing and fine arts center to go away. I have been very consistent in my position that it is the Walton Arts Center organization that needs to be very closely examined in regards to its management staff, its cost structure, and its ability to efficiently operate a venue and enterprise of this type. THAT is what I want the City to be looking at, and then maybe we can explore expansion plans. I DO NOT support throwing more money at the current organization.
I certainly agree with many of the people who posted afterwards. However–
@Inarrested Observer–”Whereas some folks talk about their big connections but don’t put their name to it. Like I could say I’m a Starship Commander, and no one could prove otherwise. Kinda loses its impact.” I’m assuming (rightly or wrongly) you are referring to me. But, as you say, kinda loses it’s impact when you realize at least my posts have my name on them.
@burgerboy–True. True. Props to Mr. Petty for his willingness to debate these issues.
Just my opinion. To which their own everyone has the right.
@Monroe – I’m sorry, the first two paragraphs from your last post had me believing you wanted the WAC gone. Here they are:
—–
Sounds to me that the consensus, at least on this board, is that we like the venue, but we don’t like the WAC, the people who are running it, how they are managing it and how they have held the city hostage.
The property is owned by the City and the University. Let the WAC organization move north. They can’t take the building with them. There are lots of qualified, experienced people in the Fayetteville area that can manage and run a performing and fine arts center. If the City is going to give funding to the endeavor, let them give it to a group that can actually run the facility without killing it with bad management, over-staffing and high salaries.
—end quote, emphasis added
And for the record, I love the discussion. Sometimes we need a little contention to get things moving and raise awareness. Cheers!
Way off topic but does anyone know how much a deposit to start water service will cost in fayetteville?
Monroe — Would you have me believe your actual name is Jesuser? Because I do not.
Can’t say much, but after a conversation his weekend with a well connected person on the WAC effort I am feeling much better about Fayetteville’s chances!
Believe Matt when he says there is a concerted effort going on by all of the Fayetteville organizations to keep the WAC here and make it bigger and better than it is now!
Proposals are due August 1st back to WAC.
@I.O.–You go right ahead. Because I will continue to respect your beliefs, opinions and viewpoint, whether I agree with them or not.
And to Mr. Petty, thank you for allowing for differing perspectives. It is refreshing to converse with someone who can disagree without being disagreeable (something, I must admit, I sometimes still struggle with!)
Just my opinion. To which their own everyone has the right.
I wonder if this proposal is for the lot across the street, with maybe retail fronts along Dickson, a parking garage, a new theater, and some park space.
Or if it is for the Mill District, thereby creating an expanded, new entertainment district connecting south Fayetteville to downtown, MLK and the Univeristy campus’ south side….
I hope its one of the above. Matt? :)
@DFranks, I don’t care how you wrap that package, it was a stupid move that came back to embarrass him. So the moral of that story is don’t go taking something that you did not buy or had not been given to you, no matter what misguided belief in law. Someone who can’t understand that hardly understands respect for peoples property. My car is in bad shape does not mean it is yours to take. Even if my property is a piece of junk does not give anyone a right to take it. If they do they are no better than a true thief.
The optimism about the Fayetteville proposal seems to be coming from those who helped develop it. It’s great to believe in your own cause but I don’t know how much weight that carries with the WAC officials that need the Walton money. I certainly hope that the Fayteteville proposal is selected but the location criteria put out by the WAC and the funding situation seem to disqualify the city. Again, I hope I’m wrong.
@Daniel – By contrast, the cynicism about our proposal seems to be coming from those who know nothing at all about it or the potential for large donations.
The Walton Board of Directors has 20 members. Five are appointed by the city. Five are appointed by the UofA. The other ten are at large from Northwest Arkansas. It only takes eleven votes for a Fayetteville location to land the expansion here. It’s not exactly insurmountable.
rofl–
It’s clear that you don’t care, since you keep making uninformed statements about the matter. Thanks for the clarification.
Yes, the tricycle incident did come back to embarrass Mr. Petty. That doesn’t mean it was illegal or immoral– it means that it was embarrassing. Like your posts.
The Walton Arts Center is not moving or abandoning their current location – let’s at least debate fact rather than fiction, shall we?
But whether or not they build their new facilities in Bentonville, the plan to build a theatre that is larger than their current Baum Walker Hall is GREAT. Having a larger hall will allow them to bring in bigger shows for those who enjoy them, and free up the smaller Baum Walker Hall for (hopefully) newer and/or funkier groups and performances. If there are groups and shows you’d like to see there, why don’t you try making some suggestions to their programming department?
I don’t go to all their shows, but have thoroughly enjoyed the things I’ve seen there – Steve Martin, Indigo Girls, Virginia Luque, blues and jazz shows, children’s shows, South American music and dance groups… to say that they only program for the elite is ignorant. And they provide access for schoolchildren to attend shows for $2 each, which the Fayetteville schools (and Bentonville and other outlying districts) take advantage of every year.
Finally, let me remind you all that Dickson Street was NOT a place to hang out with friends and certainly not a place to go with your family until the Walton Arts Center was built. Whatever you may think of the business practices of the Walton family, the legacy of arts appreciation that began in our region with local artists attending craft fairs received an infusion of legitimacy on Dickson Street in the early 1990s, and is something we should all be thankful for.
Well said, Laurie.
As a Fayetteville resident, I have to say that first I am annoyed but not surprised by the Walton Foundation’s letter. However, as a parent I also have to say that the shows I attend most at Walton Arts are the “second tier” shows. So is the Waltons want to take the over-priced, over-hyped Broadway shows to a bigger theatre in Bentonville, they can go right ahead. Even if the location in Fayettevile does become second-class by their standards, there will probably be more shows there that I want to attend than there are now. When all is said and done, I think the Fayetteville community will be most negatively impacted if the center loses the shows that appeal to kids and families. Having Walton Arts has helped to make Dickson more family friendly, my daughter even asks if we’re going to a show everytime we drive down the street. I would hate to lose that, because I know I wouldn’t attend as many of the family shows if they’re off in the middle of a field in Bentonville.
@Laurie – I grant your point that the WAC has never said they intend to abandon the current location.
However, IMHO, if the expansion site is in BenCo, I feel the current location would definetly suffer from being in a step child mode. It worries me that the expansion decision may ultimately mean the demise of the Fayetteville WAC, at least as we know it today.
If so, could Fayetteville rally to still present all of those positive experiences you list that were certainly enjoyed by othes?
No one is debating whether or the WAC wants to abandon the current facilty- obviously they don’t. By keeping control of the current facilty they cculd stifle competition for ticket buyers and financial support. The debate is *should* they be allowed to operate the current facility if they expand away from Fayetteville. Most posters on this forum seem to think they should leave and other means found to utilize the current facility. Under their control the current facility would become a second rate venue that only receives the scraps of programming that won’t compete for ticket buyers.
@mpetty- I haven’t said anything negative about the Fayetteville proposal simply for this reason- I don’t know what is in it. My comments have been focused on what I do know and what is public knowledge- the WAC’s location criteria and the Foundation letter. Those are two strong indicators that the expansion will occur in Bentonville. I hope Fayetteville’s proposal does win out but I and many others will be surprised if it does.
@DFranks… LOL! I am informed straight from the information published by this online site. My post make a point about Mr. Petty and his character. The only thing that is embarrassing is that you reply to debate the already established information. My posts, by the way, is to make people like you, the sheep who bow to the illogical likes of Tricycle bandits, exposed themselves. Your logic is flawed. People have been thrown in jail and prison for actions of like kind. Some people do not enjoy the luxury of being a public figure and getting a free get out of trouble card. So illegal? really depends on who and what you are. Immoral? This dude is a elected official, putting himself into that situation shows he is lacking. You backing him no matter what? bahahahahaha!
@TennisGuy –
Since many of the smaller shows (smaller in attendance, like the dance and international music shows) would not need a larger stage and audience facility, I can’t imagine that they would move all of them north if they built a facility in B’ville. It would create a budgetary loss to present them in a larger facility, since they wouldn’t sell enough tickets to make the show profitable. They already take a loss on some of those shows now since they don’t sell out. (Hence, the need for underwriters and sponsors) So my guess is – but it’s only based on my own logic – that they would continue to program many of shows in the current facility.
Also, as has been said, many major donors to the WAC live in Fayetteville or surrounding “suburbs”… there is money in them thar hills! And I’m sure that the folks putting the Fayetteville proposal together are making the phone calls that will give them some leverage when the time comes. WAC people know they won’t be able to stay viable on Walton $$ alone.
That said – I wouldn’t get my panties in a wad if I have to drive to Bentonville to see a show… it’s no different than living in the mid-cities and driving into Dallas or Fort Worth.
rofl–
“I am informed straight from the information published by this online site.” Exactly. Unfortunately for you, the articles on this site don’t go into the common law aspects of Mr. Petty’s case– never mind the bias inherent in the tone of the articles. Common law is the underpinning of the modern law that applies to the case, and, whether you agree with it or not, it cannot be ignored.
Now that you’ve admitted that you are uninformed, you’re on the way to solving your problem. Congratulations.
@Laurie
Thanks for your well thought response. Honestly, respectfully I still think the “step child” perception will be in play and much like the ring forged in Mordour, there can be only one WAC. I’m not driving to Benco as a Fayetteville resident for entertainment. Mr. Petty has responded, athough not with specifics, that Fayetteville has a fighting chance for the expansion.
As a betting man, I don’t like the odds and have a bad feeling in my gut. God bless Petty and his fighting spririt, I just think Burger Boy has it right that his is a player in a dog and pony show. Again, MHO.
However, this discussion, even when rampaged by trolls, has reminded me that Fayetteville is THE progressive city of Arkansas. And will always be.
History question: When WAC was established – I thought that it was created as a partnership between Walton Arts Center and the University of Arkansas to build on Dickson Street. Is the U of A no longer in anyway a part of the center?
@TennisGuy -
thanks for the thanks… I hope that you and others with the same idea that it’s out of the question to drive 25 minutes north to enjoy some entertainment will one day stretch your horizons a bit. So many of us drive to Tulsa for concerts and visits to the zoo and museums. We drive to Eureka Springs to hang out in the art galleries and wander around and have dinner at Sparky’s… It just seems silly to me for anyone in NWA to choose not to experience all that is available to them to experience just because of a county line. Obviously, I don’t know your personal circumstances, so there could be insurmountable obstacles in the way and I don’t judge your choice, just hope you will be able to see NWA as a community, not as competing villages.
@Laurie
Been to all those places. Europe and Asia as well. Well, not Sparky’s. Love em. My horizons rival my waistline. What concerns me and what I’m talking about is something beloved in my neighborhood dying what I consider to be a premature death. Just hope it doesn’t, that’s all.
I would hope that the Waltons would see NWA as a community instead of insisting that the expansion be built in Bentonville. Removing the premier performing arts center from its long time home in Fayetteville is not a community minded act.
Entertainment choices are only part of the equation- the economic impact that having the premier performing arts center in NWA has on Fayetteville is of more importance. Between the financial impact of the performers and their entourages staying in town and the free positive worldwide exposure that Fayetteville receives the economic impact is huge. The money spent by people before and after attending events is very important to the City and the local businesses. Much of that economic impact will migrate north to Benton County if the expansion is built there- the second rate venue left in Fayetteville will not be able to generate that impact if the WAC retains control of it.
[...] for the economy to speed back up. The letter the fund sent is summarized free in the web journals Fayetteville Flyer and [...]
[...] occurs within Fayetteville city limits is a priority for his administration. Last month, Jordan indicated that he was very confident in the city’s proposal, even after the Walton Family Foundation released a letter stating [...]
I think we are listening to a fat whale rant about random things, did you see the size of her? The tree can barely hold her weight, O b e s e!!!!! Let’s let her go back to eating her life away and focus on bigger issues!