University of Arkansas
The Fine Arts Center was designed by Fayetteville native Edward Durell Stone, who also designed Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The buildings are indicative of Stone's idiosyncratic modern style which included patterns of ornament. Stone also designed a fraternity house, now used for academic purposes, and an apartment complex named Carlson Terrace on campus, which has since been demolished.
James J. Kennedy
Kennedy's success in revitalizing the downtown won accolades and support from Republicans, Democrats and independent voters alike. In 2006, Kennedy persuaded the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders to invest $6.2 million in the renovation of the Union County Performing Arts Center, an historic 1300-seat vaudeville venue that opened in 1928 as the Rahway Theater. The building fell into disrepair as a movie house in the 1970s, but after being reopened by local nonprofit preservation group in 1984, it has become a cornerstone of the Rahway Arts District and part of the ongoing $100 million redevelopment of downtown Rahway.