story and photos by Nancy Peevy, special to The City Wire
Building or remodeling a home will become easier for area residents this weekend (Feb. 13, 14, and 15) with the opening of the 25th annual Northwest Arkansas Home Show at the Springdale Convention Center.
Guests attending the show, which is presented by the NWA Home Builders Association, will be able to visit over 106 vendor booths offering the latest trends in home options, such as safe rooms, children’s playground equipment, outdoor fire pits and even the latest in kitchenware.
Erin Mains, 2015 Home Show chairman, Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse and the Springdale Chamber of Commerce kicked off the home show on Friday (Feb. 13). The home show hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today (Feb. 13) and tomorrow (Feb.14); and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $10 each for a three-day pass; $7 for a two-day pass and $5 for a one-day pass. Children get in for free.
The purpose of the show is to promote different suppliers in Northwest Arkansas, said Brenda Jones, executive officer for the NWA Home Builders Association.
“All the companies at the show will have the latest features available in our area. It’s a good way to see what the newest trends are in cabinets or countertops,” she said. “Our hope is to reach out to the public and let them have one place to come and see all of those things.”
Jones said that this year they have added more technology vendors, such as technology to control heat and air, or security systems, when residents are not at home.
“It gives people a little more peace of mind,” she said.
A new feature of the home show this year is a doghouse building competition. Six area high schools with NWA Future Builder chapters, a student chapter of the NWA Home Builders Association, each built a doghouse and entered it into the competition at the home show. Visitors to the show can place a $1 vote for their favorite doghouse. The money raised by the votes will go to the Humane Societies of Benton and Washington Counties. The team with the most votes will receive $300. The second place winner will receive $200 and the third place winning team gets $100.
The Humane Society will also have dogs to adopt each day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Other features of the show are a “Find the Gnome” competition where, every hour, a gnome is hidden in one of the vendor booths and the first person who spots it will win a prize. Lowe’s will also offer “Build and Grow Clinics” for children to build a special project. These clinics will be offered from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 14) and Sunday (Feb. 15). Jones said they expect between 4,000 and 4,500 people to attend the show over the weekend.