The infrastructure for the permanent Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers is now visible from Interstate 540.
The AMP is set to open in June in Pinnacle Hills. The area has experienced a lot of economic growth and officials said they expect to see more now that the AMP is moving in.
"More and more interest from restaurants and retailers and others around the country that may come here now and had not given us much of a look before," Rogers Mayor Greg Hines said.
The Walton Arts Center bought the AMP in 2011. The area was chosen by planners because it is economically growing.
"It’s right in the middle of that commercial district," said Beth Bobbitt, WAC public relations, said. "So, we know that people will that go out to entertainment events spend money around them, go to dinner, they pay for parking, they get a drink."
A tex-mex restaurant, Chuy's, opened Tuesday (Jan. 14) down the road from the AMP. A Chuy's spokeswoman, Holly Robbins said the AMP was a draw to build the restaurant in Pinnacle Hills.
"Knowing that the area is going to be growing and developing it sounds like there will be some businesses and some other restaurants and the AMP," she said. "We’re really excited and think that this will be a really great destination for the folks in Northwest Arkansas."
The $11 million amphitheater will seat 6,000 and half of the seats will be covered by canvas. The steel skeleton has been erected for the structure to hold up the canvas and stage house, according to Bobbitt.
Jake Owens, a country singer, is scheduled to perform Sept. 11. A summer schedule is expected to be released in a couple of months, according to Bobbitt.
The AMP had been located in Fayetteville for nine years. It was first located at the Northwest Arkansas Mall, and then moved to the Washington County Fairgrounds last year. The Walton Arts Center noted in a news release that since that move attendance has grown by 93 percent from 23,000 patrons per year to nearly 45,000 patrons in 2012.