Fowlers donate $2.93 million for chancellor house garden and conservatory

The Wallace W. and Jama M. Fowler House, the chancellor’s residence on the University of Arkansas campus, will soon be able to expand its capacity for hospitality thanks to an additional gift from its namesakes.

Wallace and Jama Fowler of Jonesboro have pledged $2.93 million for the second construction phase of the residence – the Fowler House Garden and Conservatory. The project is subject to approval by the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees.

Completed in 2008, Fowler House not only serves as the primary residence for the University of Arkansas chancellor but also functions as a campus resource, used to host students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends in a variety of campus celebrations. Prior to its completion, the university lacked a suitable on-campus location for certain special events or for hosting dignitaries and heads of state.

In the last six years, Fowler House has become known as the “campus living room,” by allowing the university to further extend its hospitality in a comfortable and beautiful location designed to make guests feel especially welcome. Since its completion, the house has held more than 800 events, with more than 17,000 guests in attendance. Significant dignitaries have included former President Bill Clinton, former Panama President Ricardo Martinelli and several presidential cabinet members, U.S. senators and governors.

The Garden and Conservatory will be a separate structure designed to hold large seated dinners and receptions, meetings and other events and will have a seated dinner capacity of 120 people, as well as a 300-square-foot catering kitchen. Polk Stanley Wilcox is designing the proposed addition. A construction bid has not been awarded and a groundbreaking date has not been set, but is expected for fall 2015 with a projected completion of August 2016. In addition, funds will be used for the surrounding grounds to create a garden area for large events where more than 250 people could be seated under a tent for dinners or more than 500 could attend a tailgate or reception. The gift will also allow for flower beds, planting of trees and improvement of the general aesthetics of the space in front of the house facing Razorback Road.

The Fowlers have supported the University of Arkansas extensively over the years with their philanthropic efforts. In addition to their 2005 gift to construct Fowler House, they also made a $1 million gift in 2011 to name the Don and Ellen Edmondson Legacy Studio in Vol Walker Hall and recently gave $2.5 million for the Fowler Family Baseball and Track Training Center.