A trip down Central Avenue shows a visitor the full character of Hot Springs.
From the majestic buildings on Bathhouse Row, with the steam from dozens of springs rising on the mountainside, to the sunny Arlington Lawn and the shady quiet of urban Adair Park, the sidewalks are busy with shoppers strolling along an array of storefronts featuring everything from bohemian fashion to fine art.
The traffic along Central is a mixture of SUVs filled with vacationers, the trucks of downtown commerce, horse-drawn carriages and the famous amphibious tour vehicles. A few miles down the street is Oakland Park — a shrine to horse-raising for more than 100 years.
In recognition of the street’s vitality, as well as the work of those striving to make Central even grander, Central Avenue has been designated as one of the 10 Great Streets of America for 2014 by the American Planning Association.
Whitt Blanton, a regional director of the planning association, presented Hot Springs Mayor Ruth Carney with a declaration designating Central Avenue one of the Great Streets of America.
Blanton, from Winter Park, Florida, told a gathering at Park Plaza on Central that it was his first visit to Hot Springs and that he was impressed.
“I have worked with a lot of towns that wish they had the assets Hot Springs has here,” he said. “It has real character and history, plus a community that is committed to planning a future where your downtown grows and also preserves that character for generations.”
He said Central Avenue has everything that makes a great street as it winds through downtown Hot Springs.
“It balances the competing needs of different users, including those who want to walk or bike and those who need to park their cars,” Blanton said. “The streets are bordered with great architecture, sculpture, trees and other greenways.
“A Great Street also serves as an economic foundation for the region that leads to development of the area.”
Blanton said a rigorous process is used by the APA to judge a street and the community it runs through.
“This is a livable community that reinforces the vitality of the street,” he said. “You have a pretty dignified community, and I promise to come back.”
Hot Springs City Director Susan Davidson called Central Avenue the heartbeat of the community.
“While our visitors see the avenue and say, ‘Wow,’ we see it and say, ‘Wow, look what we have to do,’” she said. “Our community wants to see downtown grow while we pretty it up and dust it off.”
Also speaking at the designation ceremony was Rex Nelson, whose editorials, blogs and a speech to a local Rotary Club following the February fire that destroyed a wing of the empty Majestic Hotel have earned him recognition as someone who has rallied new life and a sense of resolve into the community for the revitalization of the downtown area.
“He has done as much to help as anyone,” Davidson said.
“I look at this and tell you it is one of the biggest things to happen in downtown Hot Springs in decades,” Nelson told the crowd. “This award is a big thing. It sends a message to investors and financiers that Hot Springs is a good place to support. This will be seen as a takeoff point for not just downtown and Hot Springs, but for Garland County and all Arkansans.”
Central Avenue will now be mentioned among the best-known streets in the nation, Nelson said.
“Central Avenue is now what Beale Street in Memphis is to Tennessee and what the San Antonio Riverwalk is to Texas,” he said. “It is an iconic street, and we have let this jewel get tarnished, and we have begun to polish it up.”
Nelson pointed out that the Spa City’s Central Avenue is on the 2014 list, along with Broadway in New York and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
“Now we have to make sure we polish this jewel to make it as bright as possible,” he said.
“We are returning our focus right back where it should be,” Nelson told the gathering, “to the springs and Bathhouse Row and this street that built Hot Springs in the first place.”
Since 2007, the American Planning Association has designated 230 streets, public spaces and neighborhoods as Great Places in America.
In a written announcement recognizing Central Avenue as one of those Great Places, William Anderson, president of the APA, said these places represent the “gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement and a vision of tomorrow.”
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbryan@arkansasonline.com.