BENTONVILLE (KFSM) - City planning commissioners approved the construction of two buildings in downtown Bentonville after a meeting on Tuesday (April 20).
One building will feature a movie theater, and the other will offer retail and office space.
Both structures will be built on an empty lot at the corner of Southwest A and Southwest 4th Streets.
DuOpt Bentonville, which is leasing the theater, will offer two large theaters and four smaller theaters. It will also feature a bar and kitchen.
The city draws big names from Hollywood during their annual Bentonville Film Festival, although ironically, they do so without a movie theater.
"With the film festival, the first thing people think is, 'Okay, it's a film festival in Bentonville in Northwest Arkansas. Do you all have a movie theater,'" joked Monica Kumar, executive director of Downtown Bentonville Inc. "The answer currently is, no."
The group put its efforts toward enhancing the downtown area.
Northwest Arkansas Downtown Revitalization Fund is behind the project developmentally and financially. Their focus is on keeping people in Bentonville, rather than having them travel to neighboring cities for a night out.
"It brings more people downtown," said Beau Thompson, a planner for the City of Bentonville. "Either people who live down here, keeping them downtown or bringing people from outside the city's core to the downtown."
Work is expected to start this June and should be completed by Spring 2017.