Murphy Arts District on Ice to return in November

EL DORADO — The Murphy Arts District has been forced to cancel and postpone several events and temporarily shutter some operations this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but at least one activity is moving forward as scheduled to provide the community with some much-needed fun and entertainment for the holiday season.

The MAD on Ice skating rink has been set for Nov. 20 - Jan. 3 in the MAD Amphitheater.

During a specially called meeting Wednesday, the El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission agreed to reallocate funding to help promote the skating rink and cover operating expenses.

Pam Griffin, district president and chief executive officer, presented the request, asking commissioners to shift $100,000 from a previous allocation toward the marketing, promotion and operation of the skating rink.

At the beginning of the year, the Advertising and Promotion Commission approved $360,000 in requests for proposals to help promote 2020 events in El Dorado — many of which have been canceled.

The district received the bulk of the awards with $158,500.

Of that amount, the district has been spent $40,319 so far this year and there is an outstanding invoice of $9,622, Griffin said.

She said the district is projected to spend another $8,559 on other events, not including the skating rink, for the remainder of 2020, leaving a balance of $100,000 from the initial $158,500 allotment.

MAD on Ice debuted in 2019, also with assistance from the commission.

Griffin said Wednesday all of the details for this year’s event have not yet been ironed out but district officials are taking what they learned last year to better plan for 2021.

That knowledge will be coupled with covid-19 protocols to make sure operations run efficiently and are more cost effective, in addition to ensuring the safety of visitors.

Griffin said the district had to verify the legalities of using commission money for operating expenses.

She said she contacted City Attorney Henry Kinslow, who cited city ordinances and state law to support such a use for commission money, which are generated by a 3% lodging tax.

Kinslow pointed to city code, Section 90-54, which permits commission money to be used for “the operation of tourist-oriented facilities, including, but not limited to, theme parks and other family entertainment facilities.”

Arkansas statute also says commission money may be used for the “operation of tourist promotion facilities in the city or the county where the city is located if the city owns an interest in the convention center or facility, and facilities necessary for, supporting, or otherwise pertaining to, a convention center …”

The MAD Amphitheater and Playscape and Oil Heritage Park are owned by the city, managed and operated by the district and leased to district for a nominal fee.

“So, Henry’s interpretation of the statute was strictly related to this being a tourist-type facility, along with possibly a theme park or family entertainment facility?” Commissioner Alan Meadows asked.

“I guess I’m trying to understand for future reference, so it’s likely that this can’t be construed to mean a million other things … but that may be more of a discussion with the rest of the commissioners,” he continued. “I mean, do we feel like that this, maybe, doesn’t necessarily open the door for anybody that wants to have any event at the amphitheater?”

“I do think that is more limited than, just like for example, MusicFest. I wouldn’t consider MusicFest a tourist-oriented facility. It’s an event,” Griffin said.

MusicFest is an annual event that is jointly presented by the district and Main Street

El Dorado, who launched the festival in 1988.

Commissioner Barbie Luther said the commission regularly faces such questions about events it is asked to support.

“I think we’re always going to have the worry of, ‘This opens us up. If we do this, this opens us up to something else,’” Luther said.

“I think each event needs to be looked at on its own. I don’t think we need to be limiting something that is in front of us, that is something our community could use — if it’s legal and we have the opinion that it is — because we’re afraid of what’s going to come before us later on,” she said.

Griffin said much of the financial hit Murphy Arts District took on the rink last year stemmed from an overrun in labor costs.

According to a financial statement, MAD on Ice 2019 had a net loss of nearly $75,000 from a $215,000 budget.

When preparing the 2019 budget, Griffin said district officials compared revenue projections to a family outing at the movies and the average number movie tickets sold over a six-week period, the amount of time the rink was open in 2019.

She said the number came to 9,000, which was just over the 8,908 visitors who signed waivers at the 2019 ice skating rink.