Tyson Foods unveils plan for makeover of its old HQ

2-story building seen as a boost for Springdale’s downtown

John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods Inc., (from left) and Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse talk with businessman Walter Turnbow on Thursday in Springdale.
John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods Inc., (from left) and Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse talk with businessman Walter Turnbow on Thursday in Springdale.

SPRINGDALE -- Tyson Foods Inc. announced Thursday that it plans to add on to the company's former headquarters in downtown Springdale to create a two-story corporate office building for about 250 employees.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

A large crowd gathers Thursday to listen to an announcement Tyson Foods plans an office building for 250 employees on Emma Avenue in downtown Springdale.

Board Chairman John Tyson said the plans affirm the company's commitment to help revive the city's downtown. The company is collaborating with the Downtown Springdale Alliance, the Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders to turn the area into "a hub of innovation," he said.

WEB WATCH

To see renderings, an aerial photo and other photos, go to tysonfoods.com/Medi….

"We hope others will join the effort [to] help make downtown Springdale an intersection where commerce, food, the arts and families meet," he said.

In January, Tyson officials announced plans to renovate a 28,000-square-foot building at 516 E. Emma Ave. to serve as a Tyson Foods employment center and company store. About 75 people will work in that building beginning in 2016, a news release said.

Also in January, the company announced that it was giving $1 million to the alliance.

Part of Emma Avenue was blocked off, and people gathered in front of 317 and 319 E. Emma Ave. for Thursday's announcement. The company owns both of those buildings, according to a company news release.

Tyson Foods began at 319 E. Emma Ave., said Heather Chilson, director of corporate services.

City officials and community leaders welcomed Tyson's plans to move employees back downtown. The company has about 6,000 employees in Springdale, according to a news release.

That increased foot traffic will help other businesses downtown, said Carl George, president of the board of directors for the Downtown Springdale Association.

Community leaders have been working to revitalize the city's downtown, which like many other downtowns has lost businesses over the years.

Mayor Doug Sprouse said Thursday was a day he'd been waiting for for a long time. He spoke about going downtown as a teenager and about more recently taking his grandchildren downtown.

The structure at 317 E. Emma Ave. is historic and is known as the Jeff Brown Building. Plans are to retain the red-brick front portion of the building, Chilson said, but to remove a wooden and block portion.

The planned addition will increase the building's size to 44,000 square feet, officials said. The project is scheduled for completion in 2017.

After Thursday's announcement, the crowd moved to the west side of the Jeff Brown Building to watch a crane and wrecking ball knock a hole in the structure's block wall, kicking off the project.

An alley between 317 and 319 E. Emma Ave. will become an enclosed atrium, connecting the two buildings, Chilson said.

The company plans to raze a white building that's behind the Jeff Brown Building on the north side of East Meadow Avenue.

Tyson's original headquarters was in a building constructed around 1920. It housed Springdale Produce Co., which was owned and operated by John W. Tyson, the current board chairman's grandfather. Early in the 1950s, a fire gutted the 1920s building. It was razed and rebuilt in 1952, a news release said.

Business on 10/09/2015

Upcoming Events