Arena Effort Momentum Still Evident Years Later

The success of North Little Rock's Verizon Arena is built on a foundation of failure, on lessons learned from nearly two decades of political trial and error. The 18,000-seat arena also survived months of construction controversy that marred its sold-out debut.

Those following its progress learned new uh-oh construction phrases such as deficient embed/clip welds, misaligned dowel rods and flawed raker beams.

But the arena quickly overcame structural concerns and a stumbled opening to mute its critics and live up to backers' promises. The facility, which will celebrate its 10th birthday in October, is touted as an $83 million, debt-free, financially self-sufficient showcase for central Arkansas events.

The arena's lineup of concerts, sporting events and shows has attracted a combined audience of nearly 5.4 million since Elton John took the stage on Oct. 29, 1999.

From that first event - which wasn't supposed to be the first - the arena has tallied revenue of more than $55.5 million. Operations remain in the black with a combined net income over the years of $814,868 as of May 31, 2009.

Along the way, ongoing profitability has allowed the staff to keep the facility updated with flat-screen TV menu boards at concession stands and other modern niceties. A new marquee is expected to be installed by the end of October.

The arena also became a redevelopment anchor for downtown North Little Rock, a traffic draw that pushed millions of dollars in new activity west from the Interstate 30 bridge. In short, many more things were done right than not.

"I know it may sound smug, but I believe we've lived up to everybody's expectations," said Michael Marion, who has been general manager of the arena from the get-go.

That's the assessment of many, including three political leaders who were on the front line of helping make a long-talked about downtown arena a reality.

The effort to develop a downtown arena took on new life in a 1994 meeting between Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines, North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Henry Hays and then-Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey.

Several failed campaigns in Little Rock and North Little Rock set the stage for what became known as the River Project: a $20 million expansion of Little Rock's Statehouse Convention Center and an arena in downtown North Little Rock.

"We were committed to doing something," Dailey said. "How do we make something worthwhile to be of interest to people on both sides of the river?"

"People, place and opportunity came together, and you can still feel the current," Hays said.

"We made promises to expect NCAA and SEC tournaments, professional sporting events and lots of great concerts," Villines said of the arena. "Everything that was promised happened.

"The project has no debt and continues to operate without any financial aid. That's unheard-of for a project like this. The plan has worked. It's probably been one of the signature successes."

Site Importance

Community activist Jim Lynch grew up and graduated from high school in North Little Rock but has lived and worked most of his adult life in Little Rock. He's only half joking when he notes that some relatives at family gatherings in North Little Rock still eye him with suspicion because he lives on the wrong side of the Arkansas River.

"In the Little Rock region, the river is more than a river," said Lynch, director of the Institutional Research Office at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "It's a political barrier. It doesn't sound like it would be hard for everyone to recognize that we're all in the same metropolitan area, but that's not the way it works."

In his estimation, the location of the arena was and remains a huge deal for intra-county political diplomacy. He credits Villines with having the guts and wisdom to suggest building the arena north of Pulaski County's watery DMZ.

"I wasn't at the meeting, but I bet someone said, ‘Are you serious? You want to build such a monumental building in North Little Rock?'" Lynch said. "That just spoke volumes for building support and greasing the political skids. It was just incredibly important.

"It almost couldn't fail after that. In my judgment, it was the key ingredient. The decision to locate it over there was absolutely pivotal."

Boosters championed today's arena site months before the special countywide sales tax vote on Aug. 1, 1995, and more than a year before the location was officially selected on June 27, 1996.

"I preferred it there because it supported both sides of the river better," Villines said. "Both downtowns said that's where it needs to be, that's where it ought to be, and that gave it its validation."

Regional Unity

The River Project amounted to a reworked version of the unsuccessful Megaplex proposal dating from 1977. Little Rock voters shot down the proposed 12,000-seat arena with a 75,000-SF exhibit hall by a 3-1 margin.

But the River Project expanded the pitch to a countywide electorate as the base for a special sales tax and moved the arena to North Little Rock. An added kicker to win over supporters was a sunset clause of one year on the tax.

"In looking at the failures in the past, our two jurisdictions [Little Rock and North Little Rock] didn't want to pay for something else that others would be enjoying," Hays said. "But we felt like it was something worth doing."

The funding sources were broadened to reflect the statewide draw of the arena. A $20 million appropriation from the state was sought, with an eye toward duplicating Arkansas State University's 1987 success in obtaining state money to pay for its convocation center in Jonesboro.

State Sen. Cliff Hoofman and Rep. James Dietz, both D-North Little Rock, led the legislative charge to secure the $20 million. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker signed the appropriation into law as part of the Revenue Stabilization Act.

"I remember visiting with [Sherwood] Mayor Bill Harmon early on and asked, 'Bill what do you think?'" Villines said. "He said, 'Sherwood needs this arena.' That's when I thought we had a shot."

All Pulaski County mayors lined up with Villines in support of the River Project. Of all the mayors, Dailey probably drew the most political fire.

"A lot of people were upset with me because I worked to put this on the north side of the river," Dailey said. "But it just made sense. We pooled our resources instead of trying to do it on our own. We have good stuff going on both sides of the river.

"I remember one time Buddy, Pat and I were meeting, and we were talking about our commitment to each other. If there is going to be a change in the plan, the three of us would have to agree on the change. That was the thing that held us all together, our commitment to each other."

That unity was contagious and, combined with the no-nonsense financial formula, won approval for the River Project by a vote of 30,889 to 20,452 on Aug. 1, 1995.

With state and local funding in hand, the third piece of the arena funding formula was put into play.

Corporate and private sources paid more than $13 million for luxury boxes and preferred seating, topped off with a $7 million sale of the arena's naming rights to Little Rock's Alltel Corp.

"No. 1, we did it the right way," Villines said of the arena campaign.

He also points to governance as another part of the arena's success story. An independent five-member public board was established to oversee the development and operations of the arena.

The first members of the Pulaski County Multipurpose Civic Center Facility Board, recommended by Villines and approved by the Pulaski County Quorum Court on Sept. 26, 1995, were Billie Ann Myers of Jacksonville, Bob Russell and Dr. George Mitchell of North Little Rock and Sherman Tate and Lee Frazier of Little Rock.

Villines long has championed keeping the arena's financial affairs autonomous from county operations but subject to county review. He zealously defends maintaining that arrangement when some have suggested making the arena a department of the county to tap its surplus money to augment county funds.

"I remind them that if they open that door when the arena has a good year, then the county is responsible for helping fund the arena in down years," Villines said. "So far in 10 years, they've been able to manage the program fine the way it is. Let's don't mess with it."

Public Scrutiny

The high-profile nature of the public project exposed the arena to increased scrutiny during the two years it took to build. Construction difficulties and problems received heightened attention as workers strove to make the intended grand opening event.

After overcoming concrete contracting disputes, working through structural alignment issues and battling through other time-consuming delays, it looked as if an essentially complete arena would be delivered on time.

"I thought we were going to pull it off," Villines said.

However, last-minute safety concerns caused by cracks in raker beams forced officials to cancel the arena's intended opening event: a sold-out NBA exhibition game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards on Oct. 12.

The upper deck had been off limits at a sneak peak gathering 10 days earlier, leading to questions about whether the management was already aware of structural problems. The arena's manager offers a simple explanation. "We roped it off so we wouldn't have to staff it," Marion said. "That had nothing to do with safety concerns."

A potential cause of the cracks was diagnosed as the design of the rebar inside the giant beams, a dense steel grid that sometimes created pockets instead of allowing the concrete to fill the forms.

Raker beams were inspected meticulously, shored up with additional support, and the arena was given the green light for operations. Fears of a structural boondoggle dissipated.

Tim Grooms of the Little Rock law firm of Quattlebaum Grooms Tull & Burrow is credited with suggesting a master insurance policy to cover all the firms building the arena.

The risk coverage decision not only provided the county with financial protection from mistakes that generated thousands of hours of overtime, but the single policy arrangement expedited the conflict resolution of companies seeking additional payment.

In short, taxpayers ended up with a more expensive arena but didn't have to pay the extra cost. So far, the state has recouped more than $7.4 million in taxes from arena operations. North Little Rock has collected nearly $1.9 million. The project has generated nearly $10.7 million when the county's take is included.

Corporate consolidation changed the facility's name to Verizon Arena in June. The name change is too fresh for many, who still refer to it as Alltel Arena.

Regardless of the name, the arena is a source of pride as a destination that attracts visitors from near and far.

"The old saying is that success has a lot of parents, but failure is an orphan," Hays said. "This project certainly has a lot of parents."