Second Street Live! formally opens new downtown digs

Staff, volunteers and board members of Second Street Live! welcomed many from the region during a Sunday (Mar. 7) open house at the organization’s new facility in downtown Fort Smith.

The new $2 million center — located at 101 N. Second St. — will seat around 225 and has a flexible stage that can be adjusted for capacity and performance benefits. SSL Executive Director Dick Renko said the concert lineup features “the best artists you’ve never heard of.” The new center also encompasses an art gallery that will play host to various visual art exhibits. Also, the facility will be open to rent for meetings, receptions and other gatherings.

Renovations to the new building began in November 2009, and Renko said the new building and program will continue to focus on serving the artist, audience and community.

To serve artists, the center anticipated artists’ needs and provided them with a comfortable and professional facility. The audience will be served by providing an atmosphere conducive for a great performance; which will be accomplished through a facility with an intimate feeling. And to serve community, Second Street Live members and performers will reach (and have reached) beyond the stage and interact directly those with the least access to the arts, like the youth in public schools and senior citizens. (Link here to more commentary from Renko about the SSL mission.)

The building, first constructed in 1890 (yes, 1890), has roughly 20,000 square feet divided evenly among the first floor and a basement, according to SSL volunteer Joe Hamilton.

On display at the open house were pottery pieces by Fort Smith artist Peter Lippincott and prints from Fayetteville-based artist Donald Roller Wilson. Also hanging from the ceiling were mobiles created by performing artist, actor and playwright Kevin Reese. Reese took his mobile-producing skills to three Fort Smith elementary schools. Many of the mobiles created by the elementary students were also hanging the halls and rooms of the new facility.

“This is a example of that (physical connection to the community),” Hamilton said during a Sunday group tour of the new building.

Link here for a calendar of upcoming Second Street Live! events and performances.