City Hospital is located at 221 S. School Ave., just south of the Fayetteville Public Library.
Photo: Todd Gill, Flyer staff
The Fayetteville Public Library’s top executive wants to build an IMAX theater on the old City Hospital property in downtown Fayetteville.
David Johnson, the library’s new executive director, also wants a performance hall that could hold up to 500 people for visiting authors and other performances. He wants to build rooms stocked with 3D printers, video editing software, and music studio equipment for the public to use. He also wants to add additional meeting rooms for conventions, and community gatherings.
David Johnson looks south toward the Fayetteville City Hospital property adjacent to the Fayetteville Public Library.
Staff photo
As ambitious as it may sound, after just eight years in one of the most state-of-the-art library facilities in the country, Johnson is already looking to expand.
“We’re the envy of libraries throughout the entire state,” said Johnson in a July interview. “But we’re filling this library up pretty quickly. We’re running out of room for our collections. Our labs are full from the time we open until the time we close.
“We’ve got to grow, whether it’s in this footprint, or to see if we can acquire this City Hospital property next door.”
The building is owned by Washington Regional Medical Center, who acquired the property from the City of Fayetteville in exchange for land needed to construct a roundabout near Millsap Road earlier this year. The hospital recently announced they would close the nursing home that has been operating in the building by mid-September.
Johnson said he’s been in preliminary talks with Washington Regional officials about the possibility of purchasing the property, and that those talks have been encouraging.
“I think we owe it to this community to at least explore the possibility from every angle,” he said. “I’m approaching this with a bit of urgency. If it’s not now, it could be 50 years before that property becomes available again, if ever.”
Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain Street
Staff photo
The deed associated with property has some stipulations attached to it. The Stone family, who donated the original piece of land to the city, designated that the land be used by a hospital.
Fayetteville City Attorney Kit Williams said now that the property belongs to Washington Regional, it would be allowable under the deed for them to sell the property and use the proceeds for betterment of the hospital.
“When the city was granted the property as trustee, it had to be used for hospital purposes,” Williams said. “But the Stone family recognized that the property might one day become obsolete.
“If they (hospital officials) decided to sell it, the proceeds would go to Washington Regional, and that is something that I believe would satisfy the requirements.”
Another barrier to achieving Johnson’s dreams for the library is cost, a factor which he recognizes could be a challenge, but not impossible to overcome.
“In this community, historically, if a vision has been expressed in such a way that they can believe in it, see it, they always step up,” he said. “Whether that means a tiny, incremental millage increase, or through donations and gifts, this city has always believed in the vision of the library.”
Johnson said when thinking about where the library is going to be in 10 to 15 years, he sees a trend. “You see libraries becoming more of a community center where people can come and host a meeting, give a presentation,” he said. “It’s a place that is full of UA students and Fayetteville High School students studying, with free wi-fi, and free access to information.”
Johnson credited his predecessor Louise Schaper, the executive director from 1997-2009 who led the library from its former home on Dickson Street into the current 90,000-square-foot LEED Silver-certified facility, for setting the bar high for continued innovation.
“Louise had a vision of a library that was of the highest quality in the land,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to maintain.”
HOLY CRAP! AWESOME!
You should’ve just started this article with “Wait til you see how much it costs to buy this property and do what is dreamed.”
Hmmm. He wants a performance hall for 500 people. Fayetteville High just build a performing arts center for 850 people. UofA wants $1 million to build a 700 seat performing arts center. How many performance halls of this size do we need in the downtown area? Can we share instead of spending millions to build multiple ones and spend that money on other things that we need (want)? Pretty soon we are going to have more 500-800 seat performing arts centers than we have parking decks within walking distance to Dickson.
Awww come on, Negative Nancy, these ideas sound great! I’m sure you’ve just got tons of better ideas that you’re sitting on, huh? Just don’t feel like telling anyone, huh? Mr. too cool for school. Well, until you’re in a position to where people actually listen to YOUR lame ideas, just keep your negativity to yourself, because an IMAX sounds awesome. Also, a place for the public to come record music or edit video is a phenomenal idea. Maybe we need even less parking around dickson? Hmmm…encourage the drunks to walk? No, let’s have them drive.
Wow, you got a lot more out of that then what I actually said. Thanks for stating my opinions on things I did not mention. Sharing performance facilities to save money is an idea and a better idea I think. I love the idea of IMAX in Fayetteville even though not sure how it would work in that location. I also think that a place for the public to record music and edit video sounds awesome. And I think it would be great for the library to expand into this building if they can make it work. If you want to read the article on the flyer from yesterday about the Wilson Park Pool Repairs, I put an idea on there about a need for better water park facilities. And not that I have to answer your bashing of me but I have also given multiple city improvement ideas that I have had to city departments, to people who can actually do something about it. Please don’t put words into my mouth or assume you know what I think.
Actually, having performance areas of that size are really important. We’re bringing a world poetry event to Fayetteville in October, and our only downtown options for the size we need are the WAC, which charges a ridiculous amount to rent, and the Verizon Ballroom at the U of A. The more venues there are, the more competition, so they become cheaper. This, in turn, will make it easier to bring large shows to the area.
Great idea! A large IMAX theater in our area has been long overdue, but it must be an official 70mm screen with 3D. Not the fake LIE-MAX like in Little Rock.
I’m all for the arts, but why another 500 seat performance hall / arts center? Is the town center, UofA, WAC not enough? Where’s the great big concert venue our area needs now that the WAC-AMP has failed.
I suspect the IMAX theatre and 500 seat auditorium could be the same facility.
I think it’s a phenomenal idea. It ties right into the growth along S. School in Fayetteville- the trails, the new tunnel will be right there, the new student housing, the restaurants… a remodel of that building would further serve as another fantastic entrance to downtown Fayetteville and the UA.
So we traded this property for Washington Regional’s roundabout land (somebody got the short end on that one), and now they are suggesting the city purchase it back from Washington Regional. Huh!? Somebody help me wrap my head around this.
I guess it had to do with the deed restrictions
Trust me, it says somewheres (maybe check the wall of the Bond Underwriters’ office?) that when the
number of PARKING GARAGES in your town reaches some stupid number, you’ve got to build another performing arts hall.
I urge great caution!! Wouldn’t we the tax payers be the ones to pay for this. The library is wonderful, but it is supported by our taxes. To create a whole Imax/ theater venue for ocasional visiting authors sounds like very poor utilization of money & buildings. I agree with the above comment. How many downtown 500 -1000 seat venues do we need? Can’t we share to ensure maximum use at minimum cost?
So we traded this property for Washington Regional’s roundabout land and now they are suggesting the city purchase it back from Washington Regional..WOW who did this WTF..this was a BAD TRADE..
Sounds like a Osage Creek Idea.We don’t have the Demographics to support a IMAX.
I think that the city only owned 10% of the hospital. They traded their part of the ownership to WRMC who owned the the largest share of the city hospital for the land required for the roundabout.
i wish Fayetteville would do something like this:
http://blog.exploreasheville.com/2012/08/bee-city-usa.html
Now this is a project that A&P should give money to. Not the dang university. As much as I love them here, and know how much they help our local economy, I dont think they should use tax dollars for their facility.
What all would be paid for by taxpayers? The library is of course paid for and funded by taxpayers, but for something like an IMAX theatre that could run as a private sector model and produce income, that would need to be paid for out of the pockets of the executive director, correct? Also, I agree with the talking points about the 500 seat performance hall, how many more do we need? And as said, where is our large music venue?! The AMP is lackluster, I think we can all agree. There should be one in the downtown area, preferably indoors!
Well, nothing, unless they apply for A&P funds. If they apply for A&P funding, which purpose is to advertise and promote (and generate more Hotel, Motel, Restaurant sales tax), then an IMAX fits the bill, in my opinion.
And yes to everything else you just said. I agree.
A non-WAC afilliated 500 seat theater that isn’t reserved mostly for student use sounds like a good idea to me.
I agree. I’d love to see Fayetteville have some kind of local variety/radio show like Prairie Home Companion or Tales from the South. It would be nice to have a community-run theater space for things like that, and more space for hosting artists for music festivals, etc.
And maybe a studio for a new community radio station.
+1 to a community run radio station. I grew up in Little Rock and was a huge fan of KABF 88.3FM, which is their community run radio station.
I appreciate David Johnson’s willingness to express ideas that may seem out-of-reach. The more discussion we have about what may be possible in Fayetteville, the better. The original idea may not work, but through dialogue and creative consideration something even better and more doable may emerge. If we want to be more of a creative and innovative city, it will take creative and innovate people willing to express an idea that, at first glance, may seem wacky. One thing is for certain: It is much better to have too many new ideas to consider and debate than too few.
While I don’t agree with Mr. Coody all that often, on this, I believe he is right on!
I feel the same way Dan. I enjoy hearing the interesting and creative ideas of the Fayetteville residents even if I don’t agree with them.
I am neither for the idea or against the idea, but somewhere in between
I like this idea. Go library go.
Much better than the empty shell that will be sitting there for the next umpteen years!
I don’t think that expanding the library in this manner is justified, especially if it means an increase in property taxes. I certainly wouldn’t support it if it came up for a vote, and I’m guessing (based on the recent transit tax results) that it would go down to defeat if it were on the ballot. However, I would support expansion if it meant that the library would open new branches in other parts of town. Has anyone looked into that possibility? It makes more sense to me to have a nice central library (the one we have now is still brand new, remember) with a couple smaller neighborhood branches.
Holy smokes! This is awesome! I really hope they have a smaller venue option for local performing arts groups. 500 seats is still massive for anything but lectures and music (which are awesome too), but you want to fill a space, (huge or intimate) and I think the local groups can fill it up regularly! I am so glad to get this news!
It’s either this or more faux-condos…give the location, I vote this.
I agree with Ray. It’d be nice to see the rest of the city serviced by the library, not just the downtown area. I don’t live downtown and I do not drive. It would be really nice if there were satellite library locations to serve the rest of Fayetteville, perhaps on Crossover, Wedington, or Fifteenth Street.
But, no, we’ll just build an imax theatre, filling an economic niche that a private enterprise could fill with public funds.
Also, maybe we should check out the video facilities at Fayetteville’s Public Access Station and consider helping them expand (possibly adding audio facilities) before racking that onto the library.
Dan
We don’t hear as much as a fart out of you for three years and here you are back again. Just go away, back to Texas where you can develop…..
Yeah, here he is again, with his good ideas and fancy-talk. We don’t take kindly to progress or intelligent ideas here in Hillbilly Holler.
Can this not be a holy war between libs and cons, Informed and Gluten?. This is an important issue, and everybody has a right to put in their two cents. If you take Dan’s opinion with a grain of salt that is your prerogative. Other people in Fayetteville value his opinion. Let’s keep this about the issue at hand and discuss these ideas civilly.
I want to hear other ideas, positive input and constructive criticism.
“Go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company.”
? Mark Twain
If that building is to be used for the public there will need to be a rat killing,roach foggers and something done about the mold and not to mention the ghosts!!!!!!
Only days after the “news” broke about the alleged conditions at city hospital the announcement of new arrangements/potential (library in charge) was made. There were no publicly aired complaints of mistreatment or neglect of the people who stayed there. And by now, residents have been moved to other facilities. No word on what will happen to the Attic, to Cooperative Emergency Outreach, or to access by people in south Fayetteville to these services. I don’t know if City Hospital needed cleaning and fixing or not, but if it did, repairs/rebuilding could have been done, new management hired, budget re-evaluated. I would love to know what’s behind this. To the public’s eye, the change was sudden and draconian and reasons were glossed over. Is it the urge to gentrification, with deals and egos in the background? Is there a study one can read that might support what’s being done?
What was behind this? What is behind anything? Money! Now let’s just sit tight and maybe we can see the next 3D star wars movie in our own fayetteville IMAX theater! Yay!
But, will there be popcorn and Dr. Pepper?
you people sound morally bankrupt, little sociopaths in the making.
That’s weird.
Morally bankrupt? Sociopaths? Little? Please explain.
Sociopaths are born, not made.
suggest seeing post by ‘shadows…’ above. further, no apparent concern/empathy for the sick & elderly displaced by all this and the loss of one of the few remaining eldercare facilities for lower income people. rather, the glib observation that money trumps all so why not just get with the program and be excited by the replacement of city hospital with another entertainment venue. I call that *morally bankrupt* with strong overtones of sociopathic lack of feeling for a highly vulnerable population. Yeah DF you’re right, maybe not so little, maybe already made.
They were moved to a better facility, not kicked to the curb. Get a grip.
so where’s the local tv news report with that evidence? think we’d hear the breaking news story about a high mortality rate if that had happened? fact is, you don’t know what the outcome has been but medical professionals can attest that the frail elderly pay a high price for such major stressful disruptions. your lovely response is what i’d call typical of the disorder under discussion though.
Do you have news that you’d like to share? I think this is somehow personal to you, and that’s fine, but if that is the case then you need to realize that we can’t all see things from your emotional perspective.
This is not a situation where a nursing home was bulldozed in order to build a movie theater. I, for one, hope that none of our senior citizens has suffered through all of this. Keep in mind, however, that if the building had been renovated rather than shut down, the residents still would have had to move out. I’m all in favor of building a spiffy new home for low-income elderly. Lets build a walk-in clinic for low-income folks while we’re at it. I’d support the temporary tax increase…as long as some of it goes to constructing the new Imax theater as well.
RE “so where’s the local tv news report with that evidence?”
5newsonline.com/2012/07/18/fayetteville-city-hosptail-closing-72-residents-to-be-placed-elsewhere/
You realize this is an old story, don’t you?
RE “be excited by the replacement of city hospital with another entertainment venue.”
The library director has proposed to expand the library’s capacity for collections, meeting and presentation space and study facilities. Research and media-use enhancements to the library’s programs have been suggested. I suppose you think that a library shouldn’t be enjoyed by the public.
RE “medical professionals can attest that the frail elderly pay a high price for such major stressful disruptions”
If you read the news report, you will find that conditions at the City Hospital were not ideal for the residents, and moving them was as likely to improve their condition as to increase their stress.
RE “think we’d hear the breaking news story about a high mortality rate if that had happened?”
Since the City Hospital was full of unwell and elderly residents, so you’d rather expect a 100% mortality rate. It sounds like you’re really scrambling to make some people out to be miserable so you can make other people out to be sociopaths. That seems somehow a bit– well, not exactly sociopathic….
How did WRMC get by with letting the building get in such disarray with plumbing,electrical,leaking roof,black mold and bug infestation and why wasn’t WRMC fined,all of this couldn’t have happened overnight,would be curious to know if any of the patients families have filed lawsuit?Maybe the new theater could hire some of the displaced employees and let the elderly in for free,WRMC should just donate the land and building since it obviously meant so little after FCH stopped being a moneymaker after all the new facilities were built and FCH was having difficulty getting and keeping patients,the medical profession seems to be all about moneyand outside appearances
RE “WRMC should just donate the land and building”
Reread the bit about the terms under which the land was originally donated to the city.
re D. Franks’ remarks —
“You realize this is an old story, don’t you?”
Are you saying the upmarket plans have been finalized and the theater plan is “old news”? When was it approved and by whom? You know the old saying in planning (aren’t you a realtor?) — regarding objections to bright ideas: it’s either too early to object or too late”
“I suppose you think that a library shouldn’t be enjoyed by the public.”
Are you saying that City Hospital, the Attic, and CEO were interfering with the public’s enjoyment of the library?
“moving them was as likely to improve their condition as to increase their stress.”
Did they have a choice? Were they moved as a community, friends with friends? what about their families — how do they feel about the change and their own stress? Above all, do you maintain that all nursing homes in Fayetteville provide adequate care and conditions while City Hospital was the sole failure? How can you be sure people are better off now? I think you’re taking a purely political stand on an issue you know very little about… except for the gentrification angle.
“really scrambling to make some people out to be miserable”
Not you nor anyone else has answered the questions about background information and studies justifying this change. It doesn’t matter if it’s old news. Apart from individuals’ circumstances, it’s a question of public policy and procedure. Does FOIA apply here or not?
Note that my remarks were in specific reference to comments made by leona in regard to the geriatric center and the relocation of the patients, and have little to do with the eventual use of the City Hospital property.
RE “Are you saying the upmarket plans have been finalized and the theater plan is ‘old news’?”
No, I am saying that the plan to relocate the patients at the geriatric center is old news. I got the strong impression that leona had just stumbled across the article and thought it was going to happen next week.
RE “Are you saying that City Hospital, the Attic, and CEO were interfering with the public’s enjoyment of the library?”
I had inferred from leona’s remark that she believes that a library should not be entertaining.
RE “Did they have a choice? Were they moved as a community, friends with friends?”
The last time I visited the geriatric center (and similar facilities), most of the patients were well beyond consideration of community and friends. This was a warehouse of last resort.
RE ” I think you’re taking a purely political stand on an issue you know very little about…”
No, I’m taking a purely rational stand in an issue that a couple of people have suddenly become hysterical about. Again, I have not addressed the eventual use of the property at all– by the library or otherwise.
RE “Not you nor anyone else has answered the questions about background information and studies justifying this change.”
Did you not read the news article I linked to? Washington Regional gave background information and a summary of conditions that justify the change. I will defer to their professional judgement.
RE “Does FOIA apply here or not?”
Probably not. WRMS is a private entity.
DFranks writes: “If you read the news report, you will find that conditions at the City Hospital were not ideal for the residents, and moving them was as likely to improve their condition as to increase their stress.”
I just don’t know – on the basis of a couple of perfunctory “reports” – that this was a worse than usual facility for the residents. For instance, I’ve read that: City Hospital received the Northwest Arkansas Newspapers readers Best of the Best Nursing Home award for 2011. I don’t know what this truly reflects about conditions of living and care for residents. Perhaps the award was a political move. I do know that Arkansas doesn’t rank very high in health care and that there’s an official average for “deficiencies” in Arkansas nursing homes that is roughly the same as the figure quoted by WRMC for City Hospital, where it seems significant that only 2 of the 17 deficiencies had to do with care of patients, and these were corrected in 2011. This makes it seem unlikely that any other facility would be an improvement. One other point that might matter is that for a number of years, WRMC was in charge of this facility, even if indirectly, so if there were deficiencies, they were responsible.
Now with the colder weather upon us,wouldn’t it be the humane thing to do by moving the homeless people who live in the woods across from th fch building into the hospital? Possibly turn it into a homeless shelter or perhaps woman and child shelter?this would seem more into keeping the promise to the Stone family then another theter? Curious to hear othes thoughts on the matter