WAC Board Approves $11 Million AMP Location in Rogers

The Arkansas Music Pavilion, commonly referred to as the AMP, is going to have a new, permanent home in Rogers.

Members of the Walton Arts Center Council voted Tuesday to approve plans for a mid-sized, outdoor music venue just off Interstate 540 in Benton County.

Officials expect construction of the 6,000-seat venue to begin in August with the goal of opening by summer 2014, according to a WAC news release.

Peter Lane, president and CEO of the WAC, said 91 percent of the $11 million construction cost has already been committed.

According to a report in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Johnelle Hunt, widow of J.B. Hunt, has agreed to donate land south of the Embassy Suites Hotel near the Pauline Whitaker Parkway exit for the pavilion.

Lane said Hunt also agreed to loan the WAC $3 million for the project.

A $1.5 million contribution from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation in Fayetteville and a $2.5 million gift from an anonymous “long-term sponsor” will also go toward the project, according to the ADG report.
 The AMP has been a WAC venue since February 2011 and is currently at Washington Co. Fairgrounds, a backup location to salvage the 2012 season.

The temporary site yielded a 200 percent increase in ticket sales and 93 percent increase in audience attendance.

“With last year’s success, we also had weather-related and logistical challenges related to operating at a temporary site,” Lane said in the news release. “But we are proud of the growth and excited about the possibilities of a permanent amphitheater on a site specifically dedicated to outdoor music.”

When the WAC purchased the AMP, officials began planning for a $4 million renovation that would’ve transformed the facility from a glorified tent erected on blacktop to a more traditional venue in a natural setting, complete with lawn-style seating, improved sightlines, landscaping and fencing.

All of that would have been done on land adjacent to the Northwest Arkansas Mall rather than on its parking lot, where events had been held since 2005.

The AMP will continue to host concerts at the Washington Co. Fairgrounds through the end of the summer.