VILONIA — It was a year ago that a deadly tornado tore through Faulkner County, “but it seems like an eternity,” Vilonia Mayor James Firestone said last week.
“It’s just been going on so long, and there’s been so much to do,” Firestone said.
And so much has been done: In Vilonia, a bright new playground was erected in the city park just days ago, many homes and businesses have been rebuilt, and a design for a walkable town center is on the drawing board as part of Vilonia 2030, which will be unveiled at a public meeting Monday, on the anniversary of the killer storm, and voted on by the City Council.
On April 27, 2014, people huddled in hallways, basements, bathrooms and closets as an EF4 tornado blew through this part of the state, killing 16 people in three counties, including 12 in Faulkner County — eight in Vilonia; three in Mayflower — and an infant who died after being delivered by a Conway woman who was injured in the tornado.
In Vilonia, 159 houses were destroyed and 70 percent of the businesses were wiped out, the mayor said. Stunned residents started picking through the debris that used to be their lives. Some of them were still recovering from a tornado that hit the city — almost to the date — in 2011.
“The first week after the storm, everything in Vilonia was shut down,” Firestone said. “Maybe one store was open. We had no power for a week; it took all the poles down. Entergy, in 4 1/2 days, had all the poles up, lights restrung and power back on, which I thought was absolutely amazing.”
Within hours of the Sunday-night storm, residents and city officials were taking action.
The Vilonia Disaster Recovery Alliance was still operating from the 2011 tornado, Firestone said.
“That was one of the things — the [Federal Emergency Management Agency] was amazed how quick we came together. … It was like there was no gap,” he said. “We immediately went into survival mode. We did what we had to do, and we just went to work. We didn’t wait on FEMA.
“It took a couple of days for it to settle in on my end, as far as what we were facing. It was more than a cleanup; it was a loss of revenue from the businesses. There was a state of disorder. It was almost overwhelming.”
In July, a public meeting was held to get residents’ input about the future.
“It was pretty obvious everyone wanted to see the town come back,” Firestone said.
The Rebuild Vilonia Committee and a steering committee were formed after that meeting. The Vilonia 2030 plan is “a culmination of Rebuild Vilonia, all the town-hall meetings, input from citizens — we’ve taken that and compiled it into a long-range plan,” he said.
The meeting in which the plan will be unveiled will be held from 7-9 p.m. Monday in the Vilonia High School cafeteria. It will also be a memorial for victims: Jayme Collins, 50; Jeffrey Hunter, 22; Dennis Lavergne, 52; Glenna Lavergne, 53; David Mallory, 57; Cameron Smith, 8; Tyler Smith, 7; and Daniel Wassom II, 31. First responders will be honored as well.
A grant was received from the Economic Disaster Administration to fund a local disaster recovery manager, University of Central Arkansas graduate Devin Howland of Little Rock, as well as two assistants, to work on behalf of Vilonia and Mayflower. Another grant went to designing a town center, something Vilonia didn’t have before the storm changed the landscape of the city, wiping out much of Main Street.
“What we want to do is give people a place to go and something to do,” Firestone said.
Similar to The Village at Hendrix in Conway, the mayor said, the town center is designed with a green space in the center, surrounded by shops, restaurants, businesses and residences. The proposed location is off U.S. 64 on South College, where 22 acres are for sale by one owner, and an additional 2 acres by another property owner.
The Central Arkansas Planning District, for which Howland works, contracted with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Design Center to draw the plans.
Firestone said the project could transform the city.
“At the entrance, we want to develop a nice big wide boulevard with trees, a real inviting area to turn in to. We’re looking possibly at doing a farmers market, … kind of a community area there. Then it goes into a town square,” Firestone said. “Eventually, there will be a loop around all of it.”
The first part of the project would be the entrance, utilities and a building for a farmers market.
“Hopefully, we’re going to attract some businesses,” he said.
Firestone envisions a residential area “where kids can get on their bikes and ride to the ice cream parlor. Right now, everywhere you go, you have to drive in Vilonia.” The master plan also calls for bike trails to follow Cypress Creek through town.
He said “senior-living residences” are in the mix, as well. Howland said that’s a comment he heard from both Vilonia and Mayflower residents — lack of what he calls alternative-housing options.
Firestone said three dead-end streets — South College, Industrial Drive and Cemetery Street — will be connected in the long-range plan. A $200,000 Economic Development Administration grant was received to extend Industrial Drive to Cemetery Street.
“We’re turning in all the paperwork, the design, and just waiting on their approval to be able to go out to bid,” he said.
Firestone said another benefit of the town center will be to provide three accesses to the park on Cemetery Street, instead of just one. A playground in City Park was built through KaBoom! — a national nonprofit agency, and its community-funding partner, Kimberly-Clark of Conway.
Firestone said once the plan is adopted by the Vilonia City Council, the city will be eligible for Economic Development Administration funding for infrastructure.
Howland said a similar design is being planned for Mayflower.
He said an abundance of information is available at www.faulknerarresilience.org.
“I really feel like we’re building modern-day Mayberry,” Howland said. “Both towns have so much pride in their cities, despite the fact they’ve been hit by so many disasters.”
Firestone said the tornado, as devastating as it was, created an opportunity to improve the city.
“We’re really looking at changing Vilonia up, and I think it’s all for the better,” Firestone said. “It was one of those things that probably our city would have never headed in this direction. The tornado came — it really left a mark. It changed our lives out there, but it gave us the opportunity; this is what we were handed. We’re looking at making our city a better place to live.
“Of the 159 houses totally destroyed, … probably 50-60 of those that have been built back already,” Firestone said.
He said that of the 70 percent of businesses destroyed, most have returned.
“We lost O’Reilly’s; they left. We lost a doughnut shop, a little antique business. … A lot of those that were displaced — Vilonia Therapy Services, they came back; the Dollar General built back; Kieth’s Service Station is in the process; the Methodist Church built back,” he said. Most business owners in the Eagle Country Center, which was damaged but not destroyed, nailed plywood on windows that were blown out by the storm and were back to work as soon as the power was back on, Firestone said.
“They were determined they were staying,” he said. “I’m going to say almost everybody is back up.”
Firestone said the city’s estimated population was 4,200 before the tornado.
“In the Vilonia ZIP code, we have almost 11,000 people. We have a big support group in the outlying area. Those people have come in and supported us,” he said.
He said a lot of people move to Vilonia for the “great schools,” which is one reason the city has grown.
When their children graduate, however, “these people tend to move away,” Firestone said. “There’s nothing there for them to want to stay. What we’re trying to do is make it more attractive.
“We could sit and say it’s the end, but it’s not. Part of the healing process is to have a plan and something to look forward to.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.