Story EL - auditorium
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Tia Lyons
Staff Writer
EL DORADO — It may not appear so from the outside, but the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium will be ready Friday for its grand re-opening ceremony, a concert headlined by Grammy award-winning artist Richard Marx on Friday, architect Blake Dunn said.
Dunn, of CADM Architecture, Inc., said that while a nearly year-long renovation project on the facility will not be finished in time for Friday’s show — and a gospel concert that is slated there two days later featuring Le’Andria Johnson, also a Grammy award-winner — the project will be “99 percent complete” by then.
Dunn said he has been receiving up-to-minute updates from contractor East-Harding Construction, noting that crews are working six days a week until about 8 p.m. each day.
“There has been some dramatic progress within the last three weeks. It’s much more complete on the interior than is indicated on the outside,” Dunn said.
Work began last August on the $5.7 million refit, which addresses the roof and building systems and includes new-addition construction with an expansion o the lobby, a side corridor leading from the stage to the lobby, additional egress from the balcony, and additional restrooms.
Dunn said some exterior work will remain on Friday, and the only exterior item that will be left undone is the floor finishing in the lobby.
“With the humidity in the slabs, we’re going to have to dehumidify the building for the finishing to be installed,” Dunn said. “We’re going to have to wait until the building has been enclosed, an the air conditioner has been running for awhile.”
Late last week, crews were working to install glass for the window frames.
Over the past several months, Dunn said some of the exterior work has been hindered by inclement weather and material delays, as was the case with the steel for the lobby enclosure.
However, activity inside the building has been chugging full speed ahead.
In May, many people were able to get their first glimpse of the progress that had been at that point when East-Harding made accommodations for dance recital season and planned for use of the facility as an alternative site for other events in case of inclement weather.
There was a dust-up at the time because one local dance studio had reserved time and space for its annual recital and rehearsals, while another dance studio was not factored into the mix and was forced to postpone and relocate its 2016 recital and rehearsals.
City officials explained that CADM and East-Harding were unaware that more than one local dance studio was looking to host its annual recital in the auditorium when arrangements were made for the first studio to use the facility on a limited basis.
Mark Givens, executive director of Main Street El Dorado, who is presenting the Richard Marx show, along with Murphy USA, said he was glad to hear that MSE will be able to move forward with its first auditorium concert in more than a year.
Main Street, which has been booking at least three shows a year at the auditorium for the past several years, was able to present one show — a concert featuring country music superstar Vince Gill — there in 2015 before the auditorium shut down for renovation.
“I was over there yesterday, and it’s looking great,” Givens said last Friday.
Givens and Dunn acknowledged concerns and questions that have been swirling throughout the community that the project appears to be progressing slower than reported and that the auditorium won’t be ready for the Marx show.
“Most projects come down to the wire,” Dunn said, adding that the renovation is expected to come in under-budget.
The last of the exterior and interior work on the auditorium is expected to be completed by the time Main Street presents its next show, a performance by Academy Award-winning actor-director Kevin Costner and his band Modern West on July 22, Dunn noted.
“To Joe Public, like myself, to my eye, on the outside, it looks like it’s far from finished, but if you look on the inside, it looks great,” Givens said. “It beats all my expectations. I think they did a great job on it.”
The Marx show is still set as the grand re-opening of the 59-year-old auditorium.
Marx, a singer-songwriter known for hit 1980s and 90s songs “Hold on to the Nights,” “Don’t Mean Nothing,” “Right Here Waiting,” and others, will be joined by rising country music singer Barrett Baber, a Marion native who appeared on season nine of “The Voice,” an NBC singing competition show.
Gospel celebration
Two days later, another award winning singer and TV singing competition alumna will take to the auditorium stage in a “Great Gospel Celebration.”
Johnson, the 2010 winner of BET’s Sunday Best and has gone on to release four albums, taking home a Grammy in 2012 for Best Gospel/Contemporary Music Performance for the hit song “Jesus” off her album “The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson.”
Johnson has also won two Stellar awards, one for Best New Artist in 2013, and she was named the 2016 Female Artist of the Year by the Steeple awards.
She is also featured on the Oxygen reality show, “Preachers of Atlanta.”
The gospel concert will feature popular regional acts, including Grace Justified, Tasha McIntosh, and Destined.
Myrtis Miller will host the show, which is being presented by the Michael Hayes Foundation, in conjunction with El Dorado Festivals and Events, Inc., and the Better Us Foundation.
Jeremy Owens, of the Michael Hayes Foundation, said the group, like Main Street, is also eager to use the newly renovated auditorium.
“Le’Andria was a name that a lot of local residents had been contacting me about, and I did an event with Festivals and Events a few years ago with (past) Sunday Best winner Joshua Spight and (runner-up) Alexis Spight,” Owens said.
More information
“An Evening with Richard Marx” will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are reserved seating at $40 for Orchestra and $35 for Parquet.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call the MSE office at 870-862-4747 or visit www.mainstreeteldorado.org.
The Great Gospel Celebration will start at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 in advance, and $30 at the door. VIP tickets are $40 and include a meet-and-greet with Johnson and front-row seating for the show.
Tickets are available at Michelle Balstad State Farm, Mr. Mike’s Music and Artwork, and GQ Fashion in El Dorado; Diann Epps State Farm in Camden, and D&S Fashion in Magnolia.
Tickets may also be purchased online at MY.ELDOFEST.COM. A $3 registration fee will be assessed for online ticket purchases. For more information, call 870-814-8484 or 870-863-4547.
Proceeds from the show will go toward college scholarships that are awarded annually by the Michael Hayes Foundation.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.
story text created on Monday 7/4/2016 at 2:03:09 pm by Tia Lyons
story text modified on Monday 7/4/2016 at 3:39:38 pm by Randal Curtman