SPRINGDALE (KFSM) -- After years of planning and work, the Apollo in downtown Springdale opened its doors to the public on Thursday night.
"I thought it would be trashed and pushed down," guest Dolores Stamps said. "So, I am glad to see it is preserved."
Tom Lundstrum, co-owner of the building said what they accomplished with the revitalization was everything they wanted it to be.
"We wanted this place to be stunning and people not to expect this in Springdale," he said. "Tonight, if you've watched people come in the door, their jaws literally fall open."
Dolores Stamps has lived in Springdale since 1958. She said she has one memory of the old Apollo.
"I lived on North Mill Street and went to Springdale High School and walked by here every night," she said. "When I had spending money, I would come in and buy candy out of the candy box. I don't remember ever going to a movie."
She said she never imagined she would see so much life in this buildnig after it was abandoned.
"I thought it would be trashed and pushed down," Stamps said. "So, I am glad to see it is preserved."
Downtown Springdale Alliance programming director Amber Perrodin calls the Apollo an icon of downtown Springdale, and that this is just the first step in revitalization.
"I think tonight, getting 600 people in a room together to get them downtown to see the difference downtown is making right now with improvements to the Apollo and everything else, you know all the other projects underway, I think this is a critical, critical piece to the success of Downtown Springdale," she said.
The Apollo will be used as an event center. Lundstrum said they will be renting time and space for various occasions.