After spending nearly a decade in Fayetteville, the Arkansas Music Pavilion (AMP) will relocate to its new, permanent home in Rogers. Businesses near the future home of the music venue are excited for it to open.
The new facility, located off Interstate 540 just south of the Embassy Suites, is expected to seat about 6,000 people. Pressley Farmer, manager at Cold Stone Creamery in Rogers, said they're ready for "a lot more traffic" and "a lot more exposure."
"I think everybody forgets about us being over here because the Promenade's across the street, and everybody's over there," said Farmer. "They don't ever get over this way so we're all really excited."
Evan Wilkerson, who lives in Fayetteville, said he attends a concert at the former and current AMP locations at least once or twice a year. While he's a little disappointed he'll have a longer commute to the new venue, as the manager of Mellow Mushroom in Rogers, he's looking forward to the crowds the new venue will bring to his business.
"You got to imagine all those people are going right by our restaurant like the interstate so they're just going to flood in," said Wilkerson. "I know it's going to happen."
Grant Gullet, General Manager of Grub's Bar & Grille, is hoping the new AMP will mean continued success for his business.
"It really impacted our uptown location because we were so close to the AMP there in Fayetteville so if we have any kind of return just like we did down there, I think it'll be great," said Gullet.
Construction on the new $11 million facility is expected to begin this summer with opening day set for June of 2014.