RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — On Aug. 20 the Russellville City Council approved a resolution authorizing Main Street Russellville to develop a master plan for the city’s downtown area.
Soon after the resolution was approved, people began to ask, “What is the master plan?”
It sounds exciting, but no one - not even Mayor Tyrone Williamson - is exactly sure what the master plan will entail or how much it will cost.
“We are trying to revitalize,” Williamson said. “We are going after these vacant buildings and putting businesses in and going after grants. That will be great for the city of Russellville.”
Main Street Russellville, a nonprofit community development organization, has been working on the plan for months and will soon release a request for proposal, which will allow urban planning companies to bid on the project.
Although this is a milestone for the organization, the process will continue to stretch out over months and years.
“Once a firm has been hired, you’re looking at six months to a year’s worth of public meetings and focus groups,” said Betsy McGuire, executive director of Main Street Russellville.
The meetings will just be part of the planning process. The downtown revitalization project is expected to take years. McGuire said it will never really end.
“I feel overwhelmed on a daily basis. … It’sa very overwhelming program. I have to think about it one thing at a time,” McGuire said.
She gives credit to the Main Street Board of Directors and her staff for their long list of successes, which include the renovated train depot on West C Street. The depot has become a public gathering place, which Russellville was not able to enjoy in the past because of the inconvenient location of the city’s courthouse. The depotand its neighboring park are now places where Russellville residents gather for all kinds of public events.
McGuire wants the same to be true of Russellville’s revitalized downtown district, which will also include an improved City Hall facility.
Renovation to City Hall is a separate project and will open bidding on Jan. 20.
Taxes will fund renovations to the public building, but funding is still a question mark for the rest of the downtown renovations. McGuire said the money will come from multiple sources,including the city’s general fund, making the downtown master plan a true public and private partnership.
Former state Sen. Sharon Trusty secured some funds for the project before she left office to give the Main Street Russellville a head start.
“Trusty is a fabulous woman. She believes in what we are doing,” McGuire said.
McGuire wants the rest of Russellville to believe in Main Street’s dream as well. According to its Web site, the organization believes a revitalized downtown will benefit business owners,youth, city and county government and more.
“I love to look at communities as a big pizza pie,” McGuire said. “Each slice may represent that community, and to have the whole community, it takes every slice of that pie.” - czilk@ arkansasonline.com
River Valley Ozark, Pages 123 on 01/03/2010