Theatrical facelift
Posted on Thursday, November 22, 2007
BENTONVILLE — The old movie theater at 128 W. Central Ave., across from the Bentonville City Hall, is getting a facelift.
On Tuesday morning, Main Street Builders, a company hired to restore and provide facelifts for several downtown buildings in recent years, began tearing away at the exterior of the old theater building. The warped panels of wood that had been used to cover the windows were removed, ladders were erected and workers poked and prodded away for most of the day. According to Rustin Chrisco of Main Street Builders, they’re just getting started.
“ We’ve been hired to restore the front of this building, ” Chrisco said. “ It’s going to look like a theater again. The plan is to get this building looking nice again. Eventually, the owner would like to move a business or some kind of operation into this space again. ”
Jim Ferguson, owner of the old theater, was unavailable to discuss plans for the property, but there’s plenty of history tucked away inside. The main lobby area, which has since been used as a beauty salon, is empty, but the theater area is full of old seats, popcorn machines, projector equipment and more. The staircases to the theater balcony are still intact, and the screening area is visible.
“ We would welcome any old photos of the theater, ” Chrisco said. “ We don’t have any. Knowing what this theater looked like from the outside would really help us. ”
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