City of gold
More than just glitter
PLANNING a fall getaway? Consider El Dorado. According to Billboard magazine, the city’s Murphy Arts District, a $100-million revitalization effort, will have its grand opening Sept. 27-Oct. 1 with performances by the likes of Brad Paisley, Migos, X Ambassadors, Smokey Robinson, ZZ Top, Train, Ludacris, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, and John Hiatt throughout a transformed six-block area.
The project, under the direction of former Rock And Roll Hall of Fame president Terry Stewart and former House of Blues executive Dan Smith, include construction of an 8,000-capacity amphitheater and a 2,000-plus-seat music hall in a space that was once an assembly center and showroom for the Ford Model T.
“It’s going to be the most important work of my career when one considers the lives that will be changed by the economic redevelopment and cultural infusion we are working to achieve,” says Mr. Stewart, the top executive at the Rock Hall from 1999 until his retirement in 2013; he was the the longest-running CEO of the Rock Hall, which opened in 1995.
The national architecture/engineering firm Westlake Reed Leskosky has designed a master plan to create the El Dorado Arts and Entertainment District centered around the city’s historic Rialto Theater, says the website El Dorado Festivals and Events Inc. The idea, says Austin Barrow, president and chief operating officer of EFEI, is to create a multiple performance venue district that offers possibilities of live performance in music, comedy and theater as well as options for added restaurants, farmers’ markets, public gathering places and children’s play spaces.
“We want to make El Dorado a cultural destination focusing on entertainment and great food that will draw people from around the region and potentially around the country,” says Mr. Barrow.
Phase 1 will include the Griffin Restaurant, a 1930s-era gas station and former automotive sales center that’s being retrofitted into a farm-to-table gastropub and cabaret. With seating for up to 300 patrons, weekly musical performances will happen on stage in a variety of genres throughout the year.
There’s also the Griffin Performance Hall, with space for 2,400-3,000 patrons behind the restaurant in the original mechanic’s shop of the automotive dealership; it’s suited for concerts, weddings, conventions and trade shows.
The Amphitheater will be a flexible outdoor space for hosting summer outdoor films and a seasonal farmers market.
Then there’s Playscape, a two-acre children’s playground with ADAaccessible play equipment, educationally driven decor, and a splash pad for play in the summer months.
There’s more to come, including renovation of the 850-seat Rialto Theater built in 1929 and construction of an art gallery, studios, and offices in the the McWilliams Furniture Building, a four-story 1920s former furniture store.
The project, according to EFEI, is using state and federal historic tax credits for project equity.
Oil was the source of El Dorado’s 1920s reputation as Arkansas’ Original Boomtown, which led to sizable investments in economic development, education, and corporate community sponsorship. From the ambitious scope of this project, it may be that the boom will be back, just in time for an autumn adventure.