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Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art


Mith242

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The scale of the museum is supposed to be that of a major metropolitan museum, and the most significant "American Art" museum in the US, so if Alice Walton's vision is fulfilled, it could be more than a regional draw. However, I don't think one museum can completely redefine an area's tourism appeal. I do think that the combination of the Walton Arts Center, Crystal Bridges, Pea Ridge (it is the best preserved Civil War battlefield in the US- most only have a fraction of the original land protected, but almost all of the actual battle field is in the Pea Ridge park), the Razorbacks, the Naturals, and Beaver Lake is pretty appealing if NWA can market it right. It wouldn't hurt if we had a water park or big chain theme park in the area though... (if any of those execs are reading out there :thumbsup: )

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The scale of the museum is supposed to be that of a major metropolitan museum, and the most significant "American Art" museum in the US, so if Alice Walton's vision is fulfilled, it could be more than a regional draw. However, I don't think one museum can completely redefine an area's tourism appeal. I do think that the combination of the Walton Arts Center, Crystal Bridges, Pea Ridge (it is the best preserved Civil War battlefield in the US- most only have a fraction of the original land protected, but almost all of the actual battle field is in the Pea Ridge park), the Razorbacks, the Naturals, and Beaver Lake is pretty appealing if NWA can market it right. It wouldn't hurt if we had a water park or big chain theme park in the area though... (if any of those execs are reading out there :thumbsup: )

I also forgot to mention the fact that it could draw people who were already traveling to Branson as well. I've been over to the Buffalo National River area a number of times and end up striking a conversation with someone else there. Quite a few times they'll tell me where they're from and that they were in Branson but also wanted to check out the scenery of the Arkansas Ozarks while they were in the area. Branson draws quite a few people and I don't think it would be too much to expect that a number of them could make a side trip over to Crystal Bridges as well.

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  • 2 months later...

Had anyone heard about this yet? Also, I'm not sure if this belongs in the Crystal Bridges or Bentonville thread.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=122442.54928.134587

The Walton family, heirs to Wal-Mart Stores' late founder Sam Walton, will announce plans Tuesday afternoon to finance an art-themed hotel in downtown Bentonville near Wal-Mart headquarters.

A story, posted to the Wall Street Journal's website Monday night, says:

A Walton family investment arm and partner 21c Museum Hotel of Louisville, Ky., are scheduled to disclose Tuesday that they will construct a $28 million, 130-room hotel near Bentonville's downtown square that will open by 2012.

The hotel is one of a handful that operator 21c is modeling after the original 90-room 21c Museum Hotel that it opened in downtown Louisville in 2006.

In an unusual twist, the hotel will be designed to complement the $150 million Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art that is under construction nearby. The Bentonville museum is financed mostly by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton.

Officials are expected to announce the project at a news conference at 1 p.m. at The Conference Center at Compton Gardens at 312 N. Main St. in Bentonville, near the Bentonville Square. Renderings of the project are not expected today, but the 21c Museum Hotel of Louisville can be viewed at 21cHotel.com.

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Had anyone heard about this yet? Also, I'm not sure if this belongs in the Crystal Bridges or Bentonville thread.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=122442.54928.134587

The Walton family, heirs to Wal-Mart Stores' late founder Sam Walton, will announce plans Tuesday afternoon to finance an art-themed hotel in downtown Bentonville near Wal-Mart headquarters.

A story, posted to the Wall Street Journal's website Monday night, says:

A Walton family investment arm and partner 21c Museum Hotel of Louisville, Ky., are scheduled to disclose Tuesday that they will construct a $28 million, 130-room hotel near Bentonville's downtown square that will open by 2012.

The hotel is one of a handful that operator 21c is modeling after the original 90-room 21c Museum Hotel that it opened in downtown Louisville in 2006.

In an unusual twist, the hotel will be designed to complement the $150 million Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art that is under construction nearby. The Bentonville museum is financed mostly by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton.

Officials are expected to announce the project at a news conference at 1 p.m. at The Conference Center at Compton Gardens at 312 N. Main St. in Bentonville, near the Bentonville Square. Renderings of the project are not expected today, but the 21c Museum Hotel of Louisville can be viewed at 21cHotel.com.

No, it's news to me. Interesting to read after we've been talking about Fayetteville's hotel problems. It will be interesting to hear and see a little more on the hotel. Sounds pretty interesting.

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No, it's news to me. Interesting to read after we've been talking about Fayetteville's hotel problems. It will be interesting to hear and see a little more on the hotel. Sounds pretty interesting.

That pounding sound you hear is one more nail in the coffin for Fayetteville's dreams of keep the main WAC on Dickson.

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That pounding sound you hear is one more nail in the coffin for Fayetteville's dreams of keep the main WAC on Dickson.

Good point. But as much as I hate to say it, I just think there really wasn't much chance of Fayetteville keeping it anyway. I don't think the WAC is going to come out publicly and say it but I really think they're looking to build in Benton County. Now is somehow Fayetteville came up with some really great offer they wouldn't turn it down. But I just think everything is pointing to Benton County. There's a lot of money up there and there's donors who are going to want a facility that's closer to home. Especially when they already have a facility in Fayetteville. I also think the idea of having something near Crystal Bridges is also going to be very appealing to them as well. Even more so now with this hotel. Of course Bentonville can't just sit back and just assume they'll land the location. I just think there's too many deep pockets up there for the new facility to be built in Fayetteville. That being said though, I still expect the city of Fayetteville to fight for it. Nothing is set in stone and just giving up on it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But I think everyone in Fayetteville has to realize it's a big uphill battle. As much as I want the new facility in Fayetteville, I have to admit the idea of Crystal Bridges, this hotel and a WAC facility all possibly in one area sounds very interesting.

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I'll admit it doesn't look good for the WAC and Fayetteville, but let's wait and see what proposals roll out. A new downtown Fayetteville hotel and a renovation on the Cosmo could turn the tide for that though (as mentioned in our Upscale Hotels thread). I feel like we're all on the edge of our seats right now.

Here's a bit more on it following the press release:

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aid=122471.54928.134600

Watching his small-town Kentucky hometown wither over the years, Steve Wilson longed to do something to turn the tide.

Those dreams never reached fruition, but Wilson announced on Tuesday a move aimed to help Bentonville "revitalize a downtown, reinvigorate a city."

"It will change the landscape of Bentonville forever," mayor Bob McCaslin said.

Wilson is the founder and chairman of 21c Museum Hotels, which plans to open a 130-room property on the northeast corner of Bentonville's town square. The hotel, which also will feature more than 12,000 SF of exhibition, meeting and event space - as well as a 9,000-SF bar and restaurant - will be within walking distance of both the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. headquarters.

"Crystal Bridges is going to be a major art attraction in the world ... and we're very attracted to the idea of tourism based on art," Wilson said, "so I look forward to being a complement to Crystal Bridges."

Other 21c projects have been announced for Cincinnati and Austin, Texas, with the lone open property located in Louisville. That hotel was voted No. 1 in the United States and No. 6 worldwide in the 2009 Condé Nast Traveler Readers Choice awards.

The Bentonville project is valued at $28 million and will be financed by Arvest Bank. Investors include a Walton family partnership and Bentonville Revitalization Inc. Construction is set to begin this fall, with a target open date of 2012.

Wilson said Deborah Berke of New York will serve as architect, as she did in Louisville. Berke will collaborate with Little Rock-based Polk Stanley Wilcox and Louisville-based co-developer Poe Companies.

Wilson also said a general contractor has not been selected. The hotel is expected to result in 160 full-time jobs once it opens.

Talks about the project began about two years ago, Wilson said, then added he doesn't want cookie-cutter properties. The Louisville hotel previously was a warehouse, while the Bentonville property will be built from the ground up.

"My hope is that they'll all be individualized even though they will all be 21cs," Wilson said. "I'm not into chains. ... We're about living art."

The hotel will be located on the current site of a drive-thru Arvest branch and its adjacent parking lot.

David Short, president of Arvest-Bentonville, said a purchase for the land is pending and the drive-thru location will be closed in September and not replaced.

Arvest plans to develop a drive-thru ATM nearby, and recently rebuilt a drive-thru branch about a mile away from the current location.

Tuesday's announcement was held at The Conference Center at Compton Gardens and attended by Wilson's wife, Laura Lee Brown, as well as other 21c officials.

Also on display was a red penguin made of recycled petroleum products. It's one of numerous similar penguins Wilson and Brown bought at an art fair in Venice before building the Louisville hotel. The penguins were put on display when the hotel opened, and have since become a logo of sorts.

"There will be penguins here, but not red," Wilson said, adding he has yet to choose a color.

Wilson said much of the art that will be displayed at the Bentonville hotel will come from his own collection, which is 30 years in the making. Local artists also are expected to be featured.

Wilson said art displayed in the restaurant in Louisville changes about once a year, while the other exhibits change about three times a year.Other Projects

The hotel is the latest to announce plans for Bentonville.

In June 2009, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. announced plans to build its second Arkansas property -- a seven-story, 234-room Sheraton Hotel -- adjacent to the Bentonville Plaza, a nine-story office building near Wal-Mart Stores' home offic. The hotel would be called the Sheraton Bentonville Plaza.

Paul Esterer, a principal with Grubb and Ellis Solomon Partners, is working with FBE Limited LLC, which is working on the Sheraton project.

When contacted, he'd not yet heard the news about 21c Museum Hotels' art-themed hotel, but said, "this is excellent news."

"It's perfect for us and I think the Sheraton Hotel is going to happen [the owners] are waiting for the right time and still working on the financing," Esterer said.

Bentonville is, and will continue to be, an economic engine and the Sheraton will be part of that, he said.

According to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal's annual list of the area's largest hotels, there were about 1,500 hotel rooms in Bentonville in 2008 with estimated total room revenue of $23.11 million.

The City of Bentonville collected $389,891 in 2009 from a 2 percent hotel-motel tax.

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is the pet project of Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton. It has a total price tag of more than $300 million and assets of about $500 million. An opening date hasn't been announced.

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Interesting plans - thanks for the info.

It sounds like it will be a very nice place to stay and will cater to Crystal Bridges visitors. It may also be aimed at the performers who would appear at a WAC expansion built nearby. Even so, downtown Bentonville will never be able to recreate the atmosphere in the Dickson Street entertainment district in Fayetteville. Of course, that may be part of the reasoning- in the more controlled environment around downtown Bentonville and Crystal Bridges the diverse groups of people that frequent Dickson Street won't have to be seen or heard.

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Interesting plans - thanks for the info.

It sounds like it will be a very nice place to stay and will cater to Crystal Bridges visitors. It may also be aimed at the performers who would appear at a WAC expansion built nearby. Even so, downtown Bentonville will never be able to recreate the atmosphere in the Dickson Street entertainment district in Fayetteville. Of course, that may be part of the reasoning- in the more controlled environment around downtown Bentonville and Crystal Bridges the diverse groups of people that frequent Dickson Street won't have to be seen or heard.

I've been wondering what type of 'entertainment environment' Bentonville is going to try to create. Seems like I've heard some say Bentonville can't recreate Dickson St because it's a dry county. Although we all know Benton County appears to be one of the wettest 'dry' counties in the state. That may be a bit of a hindrance, and although it's taking a lot longer than I would have thought. I do think Benton County will eventually become a wet county. Although even wit it being wet, you won't have the college scene there. Although a number of the Benton County patrons might want an entertainment district away from all the college kids. I do think it's something Fayetteville is going to have to keep an eye on. If all this comes to fruition like it seems to be, I think Bentonville is going to try to give Dickson St a run for it's money in it's own way. No it won't be Dickson St, but I can see then eventually getting their own version of an entertainment district going. Enough of one that could give Dickson St a run for it's money as possibly the top entertainment district in the state. Perhaps it would be better compared to the River Market area of Little Rock instead. But Bentonville really seems poised to be setting itself up in a good position in the near future.

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I've been wondering what type of 'entertainment environment' Bentonville is going to try to create. Seems like I've heard some say Bentonville can't recreate Dickson St because it's a dry county. Although we all know Benton County appears to be one of the wettest 'dry' counties in the state. That may be a bit of a hindrance, and although it's taking a lot longer than I would have thought. I do think Benton County will eventually become a wet county. Although even wit it being wet, you won't have the college scene there. Although a number of the Benton County patrons might want an entertainment district away from all the college kids. I do think it's something Fayetteville is going to have to keep an eye on. If all this comes to fruition like it seems to be, I think Bentonville is going to try to give Dickson St a run for it's money in it's own way. No it won't be Dickson St, but I can see then eventually getting their own version of an entertainment district going. Enough of one that could give Dickson St a run for it's money as possibly the top entertainment district in the state. Perhaps it would be better compared to the River Market area of Little Rock instead. But Bentonville really seems poised to be setting itself up in a good position in the near future.

Any entertainment district created in Bentonville would cater to the same people that are pushing to have the WAC expansion built there. That district would never have a First Night march or a Mardi Gras celebration like Dickson street has. There would never be a NWA Equality march or the peace demonstrations that Fayetteville sees. These events all include many local residents along with college students although the atmosphere encouraged by the university's presence helps attract those residents to town. The diversity of people and thought that exists in Fayetteville is unique to the city in NWA and is exactly the atmosphere that the premier performing arts center of the area needs to thrive in.

Placing the WAC expansion in Bentonville would perpetuate the image that the performing arts have as elitist and inaccessible to the majority of local residents. It would narrow the audience that is exposed to the arts and help create more of a divide in the area's cultural scene. With a competing performing arts center in Fayetteville a new WAC in Bentonville would suffer in ticket sales and financial support.

The idea suggested years ago of a visual arts pole in the north end of the metro and a performing arts pole in the southern end is still the best path for the future of the arts in NWA. Removing the premier performing arts center of NWA from Fayetteville will harm the city and that would not be good for the metro as a whole.

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  • 1 month later...

Yeah it would be nice to get some sort of date established. I know things fell behind and you don't want to set another date and possibly fall behind it as well. But I was guessing that as time went on and as we got closer they'd eventually put out some sort of date.

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  • 2 months later...

Sounds like some news came about while I was on vacation last week. Sounds like they had a number of people at to view the progress of the construction and released more news. No date has been set but it sounds like things could be ready to go in about a year. Also apparently Marlon Blackwell will have some input as well. He'll be designing the 3,000 sq ft retail shop at Crystal Bridges. Nice to have a local architect have some input. I haven't really kept up very well with the new additions to the collection. But a couple of big names have been added to the list. Artwork from Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein have been added.

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Big news for Crystal Bridges- the Waltons are setting up a $800 million endowment fund for the operation, capital expenditures and aquisition of new art for the museum. This should give it a solid financial footing although they will still seek other gifts from outside sources.

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Big news for Crystal Bridges- the Waltons are setting up a $800 million endowment fund for the operation, capital expenditures and acquisition of new art for the museum. This should give it a solid financial footing although they will still seek other gifts from outside sources.

I just heard something about this as I'm trying to catch up on the local news I missed while on vacation. Really sounds more and more like Crystal Bridges is being set up as a top notch facility.

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I just heard something about this as I'm trying to catch up on the local news I missed while on vacation. Really sounds more and more like Crystal Bridges is being set up as a top notch facility.

I know... this is on top of an (at last published figures) estimated $300 million facility and $500 million of assets (so far)... It should be a very impressive museum and I look forward to visiting it. I just hope it (and Bentonville) can help build a tourism draw for the region that has not existed thus far, since the Waltons are pouring so much money into it and it's getting so much national press right now.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

This photo was taken Aug 8 at around 8:30 pm.   They were in full work mode even at that time in the evening; lots of activity.   They have really made progress, and it looks like they will be ready for the opening date of 11-11-11.  I walk this trail almost every day; can't wait.

hmmm.. can't see my pic.

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It will be very beautiful at night.

It will be very interesting to see how the site changes over the years. As the trees and other foliage fills into the space close to the buildings it will be even more of a natural setting. I do wonder what the plans are for the interface of the buildings and vegetation are- anyone who lives in this area knows that you have to trim back the vegetation or it will overtake anything in it's vicinity.

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