The TempleLive Fort Smith entertainment venue is now closed, an action that happened sooner than originally anticipated by owner Lance Beaty who said Sept. 5 the venue may stay open for more concerts.
Beaty, owner of Rogers-based Beaty Capital Group (BCG), which owns TempleLive venues in Cleveland, Ohio, Fort Smith, Peoria, Ill., and Wichita, Kan., recently told[1] Talk Business & Politics that financial pressures largely created by “market power consolidation” within online ticketing and agencies representing artists.
The TempleLive Fort Smith website was available Friday (Sept. 5), but the link on Saturday redirected to a “Page Not Found” view. Websites for the other three venues were also down as of Saturday. Beaty had previously said he was working to find options that keep the doors open for all TempleLive venues and satisfy creditors.
Beaty said Sunday they decided to move faster on closing all venues.
“We determined it was best to be definitive so the decision was made to pull down the remaining shows,” Beaty said.
Beaty said refunds should be available from the company that sold the ticket.
“(Refunds are) processed through the ticketing processor point of purchase they used to buy the ticket,” he said. “The ticketing company generally sends an email to start the process within a few days.”
In the Friday interview, Beaty specifically pointed out Live Nation as one of the ticketing platforms that make it difficult for small venues to survive. Talk Business & Politics has reached out to Live Nation for comment and will update this story if a response is received.
BCG acquired the historic 53,000-square-foot Masonic Temple in downtown Fort Smith in November 2014 in a $2.5 million deal. The three-story building at 200 N. 11th St. was built in 1928 and has numerous meeting rooms and a theater capable of seating 900. It reopened as TempleLive in August 2017 after approximately $5 million in renovations. BCG followed the Fort Smith deal by buying and renovating Masonic Temples in other cities, including the 200,000-square-foot historic temple in downtown Cleveland. BCG invested more than $8 million in that property, which opened just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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