Monument planned for the Beatles at Walnut Ridge airport

Plans to build a monument and mini-museum celebrating the Beatles at the Walnut Ridge Airport have changed.
Citing possible Federal Aviation Agency objections and larger-than-expected crowds, the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee announced Wednesday the project will be moved to downtown Walnut Ridge, maybe near the Chamber of Commerce building.
"We've met with (Airport Commission chairman) Dan Coker, and there are some concerns about the crowds," Tourism Committee chairman Brett Cooper said. "Interest in this has been much higher than expected."
A statue depicting the Fab Four making their famous walk across Abbey Road in London will likely be placed near a proposed Guitar Plaza on a swath of ground near the chamber on U.S. 67 in downtown Walnut Ridge, committee member Charles Snapp said.
The original plan was to put the statue at the airport near the area where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison landed Sept. 19, 1964. It's the only documented time the Beatles ever set foot in Arkansas, tourism officials said.
Band members landed at the airport on their way to a dude ranch in southern Missouri for a 2-day vacation during their famed tour of the United States. The four were greeted by hundreds of local fans on their return to the airport, from which they flew to New York.
Besides the monument, officials had planned to open a Beatles tribute in a section of the Wings of Honor Museum, but there isn't enough space, Snapp said. A decision about where to put the tribute section has not been reached.
Airport officials have not definitively said the monument can't be placed there, and Cooper said there is no lingering animosity. "We understand they have legitimate concerns, and they've been very cordial in working with us," Cooper said.
Tourism officials still hope a short movie that documented the Beatles stop in Walnut Ridge can be played continuously at the airport for incoming pilots or others who might be interested.
Plans to unveil the statue on Sept. 19 are still unchanged, Cooper said. The downtown area would also provide more space for the planned festival that weekend, he said.
Louise Harrison, George Harrison's sister, is scheduled to attend. The Liverpool Legends are scheduled to perform — the group does impersonations of the Beatles in Branson, Mo.
Magazines and television shows from around the country and world have called and expressed an interest in the project, Snapp said.
Other entertainment and acts will be announced in coming weeks, he added.
Over the last couple of years the Tourism Committee has been trying to find ways to promote Lawrence County's rich, unique musical history. Rock 'n' roll legends Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and others played at honky-tonks and other venues up and down U.S. 67 in the early 1950s.
A Guitar Park is slated to be built to honor those legends, and officials hope the combination the plaza and monument will attract tourists and generate economic activity in the area.
"We're really excited right now," Cooper said.
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Information from: The Jonesboro Sun, http://www.jonesborosun.com