Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Momentary parking garage plans rezoning to be examined
BENTONVILLE — The Planning Commission will consider plans for a parking garage next to the Momentary art and performance venue.
The request is to convert 3.82 acres from downtown mixed-use residential zoning to general commercial. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art owns the land at the northeast corner of Southeast Eighth and South- east E streets.
The change would add flexibility as work at the Momentary progresses, said Nate Bachelor, project manager with CEI Engineering Associates. The rezoning would allow a variety of uses meant to match the Momentary zoning to the north and for potential expansion of the facility, he said.
What those expansions may be are yet to be determined, Bachelor said.
The Momentary is about 1½ miles from Crystal Bridges. It’s in the city’s Market District, near the 8th Street Market and along the Razorback Greenway.
The city identified the Market District as one of two districts in the Southeast Downtown Area Plan in 2014. The Arts District is the other. Southeast Sixth Street connects the two. The plan helps guide development from the square into other areas of downtown.
The plan was developed to identify experience districts and encourage development, according to city planning officials.
Experience districts are areas distinctive in design and what they offer, according to the plan. The downtown
square is its own experience district “offering a slice of small town America,” however, it’s nearing capacity and has little opportunity for expansion.
The change to commercial zoning would allow development to complement other commercial properties in the area, said Jon Stanley, senior planner for the city.
“It makes good sense to me,” he said.
The rezoning fits with the city’s development plan for the area, Stanley said, noting the plans change with the type of buildings sought.
“We support additional parking options to the thriving district, as well as promote alternative methods of transportation and access to the Momentary,” said Rod Bigelow, Crystal Bridges executive director and chief diversity and inclusion officer.
Site access, signs, the building’s architectural appearance and lighting would be detailed in large-scale development plans and applications, according to planning documents.
Crystal Bridges announced plans in March 2016 to transform the 63,000-square-foot former Kraft Foods plant into a space for contemporary visual and performing arts. Lieven Bertels, its director, was named in August 2017.
The arts center plans to open Feb. 22 and will complement what Crystal Bridges offers, according to a Momentary announcement.