Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Apollo to open as event center
Charity gala set at former movie theater
SPRINGDALE — A downtown movie theater built in 1949 is set to open Thursday as an event center.
A charity gala will celebrate the opening night of The Apollo on Emma.
Tom Lundstrum, co-owner of the Apollo, said almost all of the gala’s net proceeds will be donated to Circle of Life Hospice in Springdale, the Arkansas Baptist Home for Single Mothers in Springdale and Springdale Public Schools Education Foundation.
Work began on the theater Aug. 1, 2016, after Lundstrum and his business partner, Brian Moore, purchased the building.
“Brian and I both grew up in Springdale, so we have an emotional attachment to downtown,” Lundstrum said. “Secondly, The Apollo Theater is the most iconic building on Emma Avenue, and we knew that Springdale was preparing to extensively renovate and re-imagine their downtown, and we wanted to be a part of that.”
Mayor Doug Sprouse remembers going to The Apollo when he was a child and said he has hoped it would open again.
“The Apollo on Emma is an important landmark in downtown Springdale,” Sprouse said. “Tom Lundstrum and Brian Moore have done fantastic work breathing new life into The Apollo.”
The owners wouldn’t allow the inside to be seen until Thursday’s opening, but Lundstrum said it will not look anything like it originally did.
“We absolutely went into it with the hope of doing a historic preservation, but the damage was so extensive there was nothing to preserve,” he said.
Lundstrum said it’s a larger space than most people think. The building has 8,000 square feet. The main floor has outer and inner lobbies and a main auditorium that can seat 320. A projection room and two viewing rooms on the second floor were converted into a meeting room.
“We anticipate that a steady flow of corporate, nonprofit and special occasion celebratory events at The Apollo will bring more
people to Springdale and capture their interest regarding other great things happening in downtown,” Kelly Syer, executive director of the Downtown Springdale Alliance.
Lundstrum said the building was in disrepair when he and Moore acquired it.
“It had been exposed for three or four years with a very patchy roof, so there was extensive water damage throughout the building,” he said.
The first renovation step was putting on a new roof and stabilizing the building, Lunstrum said.
“The next thing we did was to gut anything in the interior that had been damaged to the point where it was not recoverable, which was virtually everything,” he said.
Lundstrom describes the interior’s look as “art deco lite.”
“It’s not a full in-your-face art deco, it’s a very subtle art deco, which fits the period of the original theater,” Lundstrum said.
Miller Boskus Lack Architects of Fayetteville was the structural architect. Core Architecture of Rogers designed the exterior. Antoinette Johnson, an independent historical preservationist and designer from Little Rock, designed the interior, Lundstrum said.
“We were able to preserve several of the original (exterior) features, which will be re-installed. It will be easily recognizable as The Apollo Theater,” he said.
The theater’s original sign is back.
“We took that down and had it completely renovated,” Lundstrum said. He declined to discuss the cost of reviving The Apollo.
Lundstrum said there was no incentive to bring The Apollo back as a movie theater.
“We don’t know the movie business. When we did research, we were told it would be difficult to get return on our investment by showing movies. It’s too competitive of a business,” he said.
Harriet Neiman has lived in Springdale for 31 years and is glad The Apollo is coming back.
“I think it’s wonderful that these people have invested in this with the hope of pumping some new life in the building. It’s been dormant as long as I can remember,” Neiman said.
The Apollo joins several other event spaces downtown.
“The Jones Center, Parsons Stadium, Arts Center of the Ozarks and Shiloh Museum have the capacity to hold certain types of events,” Syer said. “Fairlane Station is a great private event venue on Emma Avenue with a very different, more urban feel.”
The Apollo will have its own distinct feel and versatility, Syer said.
“The Apollo will offer more formality that will work especially well for certain types of upscale events but will also have the space flexibility to accommodate more casual gatherings or meetings,” Syer said.
Lundstrum and Moore have booked the Arkansas Municipal League for a small event a week after the opening and have booked a few events for September.
The Apollo also will host its own events, including dances, dinner theaters and theme movie showings, Lundstrum said.