Osage Creek Plans Remain on Track
by February 22, 2010 12:00 am 59 views
People long have come to north Arkansas to fish.
Might people also come to Northwest Arkansas to see Phish?
The folks behind an approved project to build a 16,000-seat amphitheater in Benton County are banking on it. Bert Piraino, vice president of operations for the Osage Creek Performing Arts Center, said the total cost of the project will be about $22 million, “give or take a million.”
Phish and others of the jam-band variety are the most requested among those mentioned on Osage Creek’s Facebook page. Piraino had hoped to make a lineup announcement in early February, but hadn’t as of press time.
On the bright side, the project did receive a go-ahead from the Benton County Planning Board in January. The proposal includes the amphitheater on a plot of 800-plus acres near Logan Cave Road, between Tontitown and Siloam Springs.
Piraino said excavation work could begin in February or March, and he hopes to hire a general contractor soon. Numerous contracts with subcontractors are expected to follow, and Piraino said efforts will be made to give as much work as possible to local companies.
A bid submitted by Baldwin & Shell Construction Co. in 2004 carried a $9.8 million price that included work for a stage, ticket office, security building and VIP facilities.
“We have a good plan, a good team, and a lot of forethought has gone into this thing,” Piraino said. “It’s going to happen, and it’s going to be good.
“Even after people see it, they’re not going to believe it.”