Arends Arts Center Under Construction

Bentonville Public Schools recently obtained a building permit valued at $6.6 million to build a large auditorium at the high school.

Located at 1901 SE “J” St., Bentonville High School moved into its new facility in August. The Arends Arts Center, a 55,000-SF state-of-the-art facility, is expected to be completed by Jan. 6, 2003.

The 1,200-seat auditorium will be similar to the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. The Arends family donated $5 million for the project. It will include a large stage and orchestra pit.

The facility will be located on the east end of the high school. Crossland Construction Co. of Rogers is the general contractor.

The building will be ready by October or November of 2002, but it will be a couple of months after that before the lighting and sound system is adjusted.

Rogers Junior College Undergoes Expansion

NorthWest Arkansas Community College of Rogers will have two expansion projects that will run about $5.3 million.

A 13,000-SF expansion on the north end of the campus will provide additional space for the business offices, institutional technology, art, music and graphic design departments. That project, at a cost of $1.6 million, is expected to be completed in time for the fall semester. Oakridge Builders Inc. of Springdale is the general contractor.

The 40,000-SF west end expansion will include additional space for the science laboratories, allied health, distance learning program and criminal justice departments. The general contractor has yet to be named for the $4.2 million project. Pat and Willard Walker of Springdale donated $2 million toward the expansion. The west end expansion should be ready by spring 2003.

Nabholz Begins St. Joseph Facility

Nabholz Construction Corp. of Rogers on May 17 purchased a building permit valued at $4.3 million to begin development of the new St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fayetteville.

Long located in downtown Fayetteville at 321 E. Lafayette St., the church will be moving to its new site at 1722 Starr Road in east Fayetteville.

The church’s new facility, including a chapel and educational center, will be 46,600 SF. The church should be completed late summer 2002. Hight-Jackson Associates of Bentonville is the architectural firm on the project.

May Construction Builds Bentonville Office Complexes

May Construction Co. of Fayetteville recently purchased a pair of building permits totaling $4.2 million to build two new office complexes in Bentonville.

One building will be a two-story, 29,300-SF facility at 1401 SE Walton Blvd. The second building will also be two stories with a total of 28,700 SF. It will be located at 1501 SE Walton Blvd.

The buildings are just south of the planned development for the new Bates Memorial Hospital.

Completion of the office buildings is expected in April 2002.

Each building will have leasable office space, with the only initially finished-out portion being the facilities’ owner Dynamic Enterprises. Each building will have elevators and open, covered breezeways at the entrances.

Peterson Farms Finds Fowl Plant in Rogers

Peterson Farms of Decatur on April 30 purchased Petit Jean Poultry’s Rogers processing plant for $2.4 million.

Crystal Lake Foods LLC, a division of Peterson, is already in operation at 2200 Town West Drive in Rogers. The plant was originally North Arkansas Poultry, a division of Petit Jean based in Danville.

Crystal Lake is a breast meat processing plant.

Tyson Breaks Ground on Lab Expansion

Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale had a groundbreaking ceremony June 5 for its $1.51 million laboratory expansion.

The 17,500-SF addition is just south of Tyson’s headquarters, located at 3609 Johnson Road in Springdale.

The labs have two components — a microbiology section and a chemistry section — and will the expansion will enable the poultry giant to add state-of-the-art equipment.

Already possessing one of the most sophisticated labs services in the food industry, the USDA-certified corporate lab will be able to expand its capabilities from pesticide residue analysis, nutritional analysis and pathogen detection and analysis to greater depth and breadth of efficiently and expediently managing food safety and food quality issues.

Summit to Move to New Facility

Buildings Inc. of Springdale is building a 9,500-SF facility that will be the new home for Summit Flooring & Shudders.

Located on N. 40th Street in Springdale, the new facility will be leased by Summit. The project will cost about $400,000. It will be the first building on 10 acres — 11 lots — at KC Subdivision, a commercial area being developed by Buildings Inc.

Summit is currently located at Signature Square in southeast Springdale. Summit does upper end flooring, decorative stained concrete, decorative accessories with area rugs and has recently become a distributor for Kurt’s Plantation Shudders.

Summit is doing the floor covering for the University of Arkansas’ Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The target date for completion of the new facility is mid-September.

Upchurch Gets New Office Space

Upchurch Electrical Supply Inc. of Fayetteville on May 4 obtained a building permit valued at $250,000 to build new office space.

Upchurch, the first electrical supply wholesale distributor in Northwest Arkansas to get into automation, was founded in 1955. Located at 2355 N. Gregg Ave., Upchurch is adding 3,927 SF to its existing building. The old office area will be turned into a warehouse, while the new addition will become the new office area. It will also feature a new classroom.

Jeff Koenig is the president and CEO of Upchurch.

Commerce Construction Co. of Springdale is the general contractor.

New School Gets New Look

Marinoni Construction Co. of Fayetteville on May 7 purchased a building permit valued at $220,000 to renovate a Fayetteville school building.

The New School, which will turn 30 years old in September, is having its original 6,400-SF building renovated in time for school expansion next year.

The New School will add a sixth grade in time for the 2001-2002 school year and a seventh grade for the 2002-2003 school year. The renovated building, located east of the school playground, will house grades three through six.

The New School is located at 223 E. Sunbridge Drive, just east of Gregg Avenue.