El Dorado Rocks Competition With MAD Arts, Entertainment District (Tourism | Winner, Class II)

With a goal of making El Dorado a music, arts, entertainment and culinary destination, the city’s Murphy Arts District (MAD) has given much more to the city than just a fun Saturday night. MAD has been directly associated with the city’s recent publicity and economic growth. The district’s public relations efforts have focused on sharing El Dorado’s history, an effort that has led to the city being a subject in both print and online news stories.

This publicity helps El Dorado advertise as a tourist city. By making the city more attractive to visitors, civic leaders have seen increased sales tax revenues to pay for infrastructure, services and education. In addition to revenue increases, the city has seen a influx of job opportunities.

The district itself contains six venues spread over three city blocks. These venues are comprised of a two-acre children’s playscape, 8,000 person outside amphitheatre, a 2,000 seat music hall, a 250 person cabaret restaurant, an 8,000 foot art gallery, a 1920’s-themed 850 seat theater with a balcony and bar and two outside plazas.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Arkansas had a 2 percent increase in employment for art and cultural industries between 2013 and 2014. This year alone, MAD has hired more than 100 employees to positions that did not previously exist.

This district also greatly improves El Dorado’s quality of life, serving as a way to attract employees for companies like Murphy USA, Murphy Oil and Delta Timber. These companies are based around and in El Dorado and can help increase economic opportunities for the city.

The program was initially funded by private corporations and individual contributions, though the city has also received significant financial contributions from the city, state and federal sources.

MAD is planning to generate operating income from several sources, including revenues from food and beverage sales in The Griffin Restaurant, revenues from special events and rentals in the Griffin Music Hall, Griffin Restaurant and MAD Amphitheatre, ticket sales for all performances, membership income, sponsorship income and local, state and federal grant incomes.

Though the city has already hired for over 100 new positions, MAD plans to continue hiring. A training program has been established to create a unique and innovative farm-to-table curriculum in partnership with the South Arkansas Community College. This program is also being considered for inclusion in high school curriculums to encourage a new career path within the food industry.

Beyond the South Arkansas Community College, MAD has partnered with several organizations and businesses to promote and create a variety of programs and events. Some of these partnerships include the South Arkansas Arts Center, South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, El Dorado Chamber of Commerce, Farms in Arkansas and the Ruston Convention and Visitors Bureau and Mayor’s office.

These partnerships have served as a direct correlation to the district and city’s success. Since the beginning of MAD’s development, it has successfully acquired revenue from several sources, which is intended to help fund Phase Two of the district. With MAD’s phase one being completed in September of 2017, they have booked and held several performers for their various venues. Some of these performers include Brad Paisley, Ludacris, Migos and Smokey Robinson.

El Dorado is going MAD with their new district-based program. Though only through phase one, the program has shown promise for more than just entertainment — job growth, economic development through sales tax revenues and an improvement of the city’s quality-of-life is setting this program apart from any other in the state.