The amphitheatre was designed by Mike Steelman of SCM Architects, with construction overseen by Flynn Remodeling and Construction.  The curved roof mimics the curved trusses of the Junction Bridge (visible in the background) and the Clinton Presidential Bridge which flank either side of amphitheatre.

The sloped roofing and wooden ceiling are designed to send the music out to the audience better (and to keep performers drier) than the previous stage covering did.  Though not visible in the photos, the roof is sheathed in teal metal to match the First Security Bank color scheme.  The seats in the amphitheatre will be replaced later this summer and and have the same color.

In recognition of the financial commitment made by Riverfest and the festival’s status as a cultural touchstone for the amphitheatre, the stage is known as Riverfest Stage.

The First Security Amphitheatre will be a focal point of this weekend’s Riverfest.

Thomas D. Merrick grave in Mt. Holly Cemetery

Thomas D. Merrick was born on 23 May, 1814, in Hampden County, Massachusetts. He later moved to Indianapolis IN and Louisville KY before ending up in Little Rock.

On January 17, 1841, he married Anna M. Adams of Kentucky at Christ Episcopal Church in Little Rock. They had seven children: George, Annie, Ellie, Mollie, Lillian, Dwight, and Thomas. Thomas died at age ten.

Merrick became a prominent member of the Little Rock business community, as a merchant and cotton broker. He was involved in Freemasonry, holding the position of Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas in 1845.

In 1855 Merrick entered into a business partnership with future LR Mayor John Wassell. Merrick was also involved in city politics, serving on the city council and also as mayor from January 1854 to January 1855.

He saw active service during the Civil War. On February 6, 1861, Merrick delivered an ultimatum to Captain James Totten of the United States Arsenal at Little Rock, demanding the surrender of the federal troops. Merrick also raised a regiment of Confederate Arkansas Militia, holding the rank of Colonel of Infantry at Camp Conway, near Springfield, Arkansas.  Following the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862), Merrick resigned his commission and returned to Little Rock.

Merrick died in his home in Little Rock on March 18, 1866.  He is buried in Mt. Holly Cemetery.

Both major River Market attractions will offer $5 admission all weekend – Friday-Monday, May 24-27 for the Clinton Center and Saturday-Monday, May 25-27, for the museum, which will be closed Friday, May 24.

Also, for Clinton Center, Clinton Museum Store and Museum of Discovery patrons not attending Riverfest, there will be free parking and a free round-trip shuttle from the designed lot located between 4th and 5th streets and Collins Street to each of the attractions.

“Riverfest will bring around 250,000 people to our backyard over Memorial Day Weekend,” said Kelley Bass, CEO of the Museum of Discovery. “A large part of the festival will take place on the grounds of the Clinton Center and Heifer International, so it only makes sense for us to join our neighbors and welcome Riverfest patrons to the museum.”

Besides $5 admission – which equals half-price for adults and $3 off for children – Bass said the museum is offering special programs at the museum throughout the holiday weekend to give people even more reason to visit. Museum educators also will be on-site at Riverfest doing hands-on “tinkering” activities with festival-goers at the Deltic Timber Kidzone Area from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 25, and from 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday, May 26.

In addition to engaging with the 85 hands-on, interactive exhibits, museum visitors on Memorial Day Weekend will be treated to a full schedule of special programs, with “The Electric Show,” “Awesome Science” and “Meet the Museum Animals” being presented in rotation, on the hour, from noon until 4 p.m. Saturday, May 25; 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 26; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, May 27.

Also, Tommy’s Terrific Magic Show, which will be presented Sunday at Riverfest, will be featured at 1 p.m. Saturday at the museum.

Operating hours:

Museum of Discovery
Friday, May 24: Closed
Saturday, May 25: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 26: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, May 27: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Clinton Presidential Center
Friday, May 24: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, May 25: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 26: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, May 27: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Dirty Wars website describes the film:

What begins as an investigation into a US night raid gone terribly wrong in a remote corner of Afghanistan quickly transforms into a high-stakes global investigation into one of the most secretive and powerful military units in American history… As Scahill digs deeper into the activities of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), he is forced to confront painful truths about the consequences of a war without end that extends through Republican and Democratic administrations. Pulled deeper into the stories he investigates and the lives of the people he meets along the way, Scahill realizes that the investigation has transformed him…

Tracing the rise of JSOC, the most secret and elite fighting force in U.S. history, Dirty Wars reveals cover operations unknown to the public and carried out across the globe by men who do not exist on paper and will never appear before Congress. In military jargon, JSOC teams “find, fix and finish” their targets, who are selected through a secret process. No target is off limits for the “kill list,” including U.S. citizens. Dirty Warstakes viewers to remote corners of the globe to see first-hand wars fought in their name and offers a behind-the-scenes look at a high-stakes investigation. We are left with haunting questions about freedom and democracy, war and justice.

The other nominees for Golden Rock Documentary were 12 O’Clock Boys by Lotfy Nathan, The Kill Team by Dan Krauss, Pussy Riot-A Punk Prayer by Mike Lerner & Maxim Pozdorovkin, and These Birds Walk by Omar Mullick & Bassam Tariq.

Short Term 12

The film features Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Keith Stanfield, Stephanie Beatriz, Rami Malek, Alex Calloway, Kevin Hernandez, Lydia Du Veaux, Frantz Turner, Diana Maria Riva, Harold Cannon, Silvia Curiel, Bran’dee D’Allen and Melora Walters.  Crtittin both wrote and directed the film.  Brett Pawlak is the cinematographer, Nat Sanders the film editor and Joel P. West composed the score.

Short Term 12 has won awards at several other festivals.  Cinedigm has announced plans to release the film later in the summer.

The other nominees were David Riker’s The Girl, Josh Barrett and Marc Menchaca’s This Is Where We Live, Daniel Patrick Carbone’s Hide Your Smiling Faces and Barmak Akram’s Wajma—An Afghan Love Story.

The winner this year was Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker directed by Lily Keber. The documentary explores the life, times and music of piano legend James Booker, who Dr. John described as ‘the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced.’

The award was chosen by OA editor Roger Hodges and presented by publisher Warwick Sabin.

Liza Burns won the Best Actor award for her performance in the feature 45 RPM.  (Note that actor is used as a gender non-specific term.)  The other nominees were Jeff Bailey for “The Discontentment of Ed Telfair,” Jeffrey Fuell for “Blood Brothers” and Graham Gordy for “Mary.”

The Charles B. Pierce Award for Best Short went to “The Discontentment of Ed Telfair” which was directed by Daniel Campbell.  The other nominees were “Diamond John” (directed by Travis Mosler), “Last Shot Love” (directed by Nolan Dean) and “Mary” (directed by Zach Turner).  Interestingly, the latter two and Campbell’s winning film were all grouped together in the “Heartbeats” block.

The award for Best Feature went to 45 RPM directed by Juli Jackson.  The other nominees were Last Summer by Mark Thiedeman and The Identity Theft of Mitch Mustain by Matthew Wolfe.

Mark Thiedeman won Best Director for Last Summer.  This is the third consecutive year Thiedeman has had a film at the Little Rock Film Festival.  The other nominees were Amman Abbasi for “Bad Water,” Zach Turner for “Mary” and Juli Jackson for 45 RPM.

The Best Youth Film award went to Robert Crisp for his film “Saturday.”

The THEA Foundation presented four scholarships to youth filmmakers.  A scholarship for cinematography went to Zak Heald, Crisp earned a scholarship for his editing, Joseph Largent won a scholarship for screenwriting, and the scholarship for directing went to Anna Thompson.

The award was actually presented first on Saturday night at an event sponsored by Heifer and presented again at the Sunday evening gala.  The award went to These Birds Walk which was directed by Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq.

The World Shorts Award went to Amy Seimetz’s “When We Lived in Miami.” It was shown in the “Sore Times” block of films.

The Arkansas Times Audience Award went to Bloodworth-Thomason’s Bridegroom.  This documentary had previously won an audience award at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival where the film was introduced by President Bill Clinton.

Because the filmmakers were unavailable to attend on Sunday and accept the award, Shane Bitney Crone, one of the subjects of the documentary, accepted the award.