Walton Family Foundation tries strong-arm tactics to force Bentonville expansion by WAC | CF

NWAonline – WAC EXPANSION: Bentonville Or Bust. (subscription required)

The Walton Family Foundation pulled out the big guns in a recent letter and told the Walton Arts Center the foundation will not [see correction below] be lead donor if a new performing arts center is built anywhere other than Bentonville.

You can read the letter here.

The actual language used by the foundation in the letter is “we do not foresee being the lead donor for a new performing arts facility in a location other than Bentonville.”

The letter continues, “At the same time, no matter the final outcome of any Walton Arts Center expansion, we anticipate that we will continue our general support for programming and services at the Fayetteville location given its importance to the overall region and to the Dickson Street Entertainment District, a truly unique asset in Northwest Arkansas.”

Since the foundation gives about a $1 million a year (roughly 1/10th of the WAC’s budget) already, their opinion matters quite a bit.

“The Walton family gift is the reason we’re sort of here in the first place,” WAC CEO and president Peter Lane told Northwest Arkansas Newspapers.

The Walton Family teamed up with Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas to build the performing arts center in 1992.

The foundation’s letter also cautioned the WAC about the size of their proposed expansion saying it was simply too large and needs to be put within the context of the region’s current economic climate.

A 2008 study recommended a $180 million project that features a 2,200 seat theater, a 600-seat flexible-use space and a black box studio with seating for 100.

The expansion would not mean closing the current facility in Fayetteville, but the new expansion – as envisioned now – would be bigger than the current Walton Arts Center.

Fayetteville has not given up on landing the expansion. Mayor Lioneld Jordan says he’s committed to convincing the WAC to keep the expansion in Fayetteville.

Recent action by the city council to revise parking in the Dickson Street entertainment district is expected to generate about $290,000 annually for the WAC.

Neither Fayetteville nor Bentonville have submitted site proposals yet which are due Aug. 2.

[Correction: I left out the "not" and actually said the exact opposite of what I meant. Thanks to an astute reader for catching that.]

Christopher Spencer

Christopher Spencer, 36, is the publisher and owner of Ozarks Unbound and the food news site, The Fayetteville Food File. He is the chair of the Fayetteville Creative Economy Action Group and the social media chair of the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He's also the founder of WordCamp Fayetteville. You can always contact him at cspencer@ozarksunbound.com

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2 Comments

• Laurie says:

  June 24, 2010 at 2:51 pm

  I am not sure that this is a bad thing for them to say. Too bad it’s coming so late in the game, but at least the WAC knows what they’re working with. I do think that based on the study that was conducted in 2008, the foundation could allow the WAC to make their own decisions on size of the place, however. NWA can definitely support a 2200 seat facility… the selection of large venues in our area for events and fundraisers is atrocious.

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