FORT SMITH - Like their counterparts in Bentonville, developers in this Old West-theme city on the Oklahoma state line are wagering millions in downtown redevelopment dollars on the aura of a new, national museum.
The museum, to open in 2016, will celebrate the exploits of the U.S. Marshals Service from the days of George Washington to today - with emphasis on legends like Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, who tracked down killers and thieves in Arkansas and Oklahoma more than 100 years ago.
In recent weeks, two Fort Smith business operators have announced investments in downtown that include residential, commercial and industrial space. The two projects are estimated to total about $5 million and will renovate historic buildings at both ends of downtown Fort Smith’s main boulevard, Garrison Avenue.
The $50 million U.S. Marshals Museum, overlooking the fast-flowing Arkansas River, is expected to enhance downtown and the city. That makes developer Rick Griffin, of Griffin Properties of Fort Smith, feel pretty good about sinking $3 million into a city block just a few hundred yards away from the future museum. There he will convert historic buildings into apartments, stores and offices.
“The Marshals Museum will be a game-changer,” Griffin said. “It will bring people from all over the country to downtown Fort Smith. It will spur river development, restaurants, stores and a lot more.”
A 2009 study estimated the Marshals Museum could attract about 117,000 visitors per year. But that was before the 2011 opening of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. That Bentonville museum and Little Rock’s 9-year-old Clinton Presidential Center should funnel additional museum goers to Fort Smith, which is on Interstate 540 south of Interstate 40.
“We anticipate the number of visitors will be significantly higher” to the Marshals Museum than the 2009 study indicated, said Jessica Hayes, vice president of operations at the U.S. Marshals Museum office in Fort Smith.
Griffin hopes to complete within two years his company’s 10-year effort to buy, redevelop and renovate a city block on Garrison between Fourth and Fifth streets. Griffin Properties has wrapped up developing an upscale store and eatery, gas station and liquor store there.
The rest of the project, which totals 22,000 square feet, will add residential, commercial and retail space. The area will include an open air breezeway with an outdoor fireplace and grill. The Breezeway Apartments will consist of 12 upscale one- and two-bedroom apartments.
“It’s going to be a completely renovated city block,” Griffin said. “To make downtown work, you’ve got to have people living downtown in nice accommodations,” he said. “And you’ve got to have services, such as gas and groceries.” Griffin, vice chairman of the U.S. Marshals Museum board, believes all that is coming together for Fort Smith.
At the opposite end of Garrison, Propak Logistics President Steve Clark announced recently that his company has bought the historic Friedman-Mincer building at the corner of Garrison and Towson avenues. Planning to invest about $2 million, Propak hopes to convert the 24,000-square-foot building into office space. Known as the Oklahoma Tire and Supply Co. (OTASCO) building, the 102-year-old structure would house the logistics and transportation company’s 35 Fort Smith employees, with space left over to rent.
“We had looked at this building six or seven years ago,” said John Cooley, Propak’s chief financial officer. “But it wasn’t the right time. Now the roof has collapsed and there’s been talk of demolishing the building. We believe it’s worth saving and this is the right time.”
Propak hopes to complete the project by summer 2014, he said.
Historic preservation rather than redevelopment is the goal of Propak’s project, Cooley said. But company officials won’t mind if the Marshals Museum remakes and improves property values in Fort Smith’s downtown.
“Every block seems to have some activity going. We don’t doubt that after the Marshals Museum opens, Fort Smith will look a lot different,” Cooley said.
U.S. Marshals Museum directors announced last week plans to break ground for the museum project in 2014, the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The 50,000-square-foot museum would include three main galleries, as well as a Hall of Honor to remember U.S. marshals killed in the line of duty.
Business, Pages 67 on 06/09/2013