UCA trustees OK bonds for arts complex; $20M to help fund design, construction of new center

CONWAY -- The University of Central Arkansas board of trustees on Friday authorized the college to issue $20 million in bonds to kick off the construction of the new $45 million Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

The student-fee revenue bond proceeds will help fund the planning, design and construction of the proposed 98,000-square-foot complex that is expected to be complete by the fall of 2022.

The university announced plans for the center -- which will be located at the corner of Conway's Donaghey Avenue and Bruce Street -- in January after receiving a gift of $20 million from the Windgate Foundation, an Arkansas nonprofit focused on art and education.

"With the UCA board of trustees vote to authorize the issuance of the bonds, we marked another critical moment in making the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts a reality," said UCA President Houston Davis. "I am so pleased and thankful the board of trustees has supported this project and the vision for how it will impact UCA, the community and the state."

The bonds are secured by "pledged revenue," which is a portion of the university's expected general tuition and fees paid by students. The bonds will mature no later than 30 years after the issuance date.

Witsell Evans Rasco Architects and Pfeiffer Architects have been selected as the design team with Baldwin and Shell Construction Co. named as the contractor.

The location of the project, just north of Thompson Hall, is a parking lot and the construction will cut about 530 parking spaces. To counter the loss, the university is planning to install additional "pop-up" parking spaces in various places around the campus.

In the end, Davis said, there will be about 590 replacement parking spots.

"The additional new spaces will remain gravel until the Windgate building is completed and we can get a more accurate idea of how traffic will flow," said Amanda Hoelzeman, UCA spokesperson.

The Windgate Foundation, based in Little Rock, has provided more than $751 million in grants to institutions throughout the country. Other recipients have included the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, Hendrix College in Conway, the Thea Foundation in North Little Rock, the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

The donation is the largest in UCA's 111-year history, surpassing the $5.6 million in 1996 from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation for the Reynolds Performance Hall.

The university plans to use $19 million of the donation to pay for the new facility and the remaining $1 million went to the Windgate Scholarship Fund, established at UCA in 2005 for full- or part-time students majoring in art. The fund already has given a total of more than $400,000 to 30 students, based on talent and financial need.

The Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts will house the university's art department and will add class, studio, rehearsal, design and faculty office space.

The complex will feature an art gallery, art space, an outdoor three-dimensional art area, a 450-seat concert hall designed for orchestra, choir, band and ensemble performances and a black box theater to accommodate a wide array of theatrical performances, including musical theater.

In other business, the board of trustees, after about an hour in executive session, voted to extend Davis' employment contract for three more years, through Dec. 31, 2024. He will maintain his current annual salary of $356,065.

Davis, who is UCA's 11th president, originally signed a five-year contract when he took the university's helm in the fall of 2017.

"I am thrilled that the Board has chosen to extend my contract for three additional years," Davis said in an email after the meeting. "We have many great projects and initiatives underway, and I am honored to continue my career at UCA and see our work come to fruition. It is a great time to be a Bear!"

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Houston Davis

Metro on 12/07/2019

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