PINE BLUFF -- Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth is approaching her city's new five-year strategic plan as a must-do list.
To-do lists have been tried before, but hardly anything was ever accomplished, she said.
This time, actions outlined in the plan must be taken if Pine Bluff is going to grow and thrive, Hollingsworth said.
The plan has three key goals: To increase the city's tax base through additional retail businesses, to improve and develop the University Drive area around the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and to enhance recreational opportunities for residents.
Efforts to increase the tax base, according to the plan, will include hiring a marketing/communication director and a grant writer for the city.
Money for the new positions will come from an image campaign fund approved earlier this year by the Pine Bluff City Council. The fund has about $154,000. Salaries for the two new positions are still being worked out, as the jobs have just been posted, city officials said.
The plan also calls for the city to collaborate with the Chamber of Commerce and financial intuitions, as well as UAPB and Southeast Arkansas College, to help improve the local economy.
Pine Bluff has continually topped the state's unemployment rate during the past few years. In August, Pine Bluff's unemployment rate held steady at 7.5 percent, while the statewide unemployment rate was 5.4 percent.
This summer, the city announced a partnership with Simmons First National Bank, whose headquarters are in downtown Pine Bluff, to help revamp the city through a series of low-interest loans targeted at business owners.
Bank executives and city leaders said they hope the plan will be the economic spark to get Pine Bluff's economy back on track. Details have not been hammered out, but Hollingsworth and bank officials have said their partnership remains strong.
Another part of the plan entails redeveloping University Drive, something Hollingsworth said is one of the city's most important goals. She said she hopes to work with UAPB officials -- who also have a master plan for the area -- to "make it the showpiece of our city."
Robert Wall, director of the Department of Facilities Management for UAPB, said the university's plan "is very comprehensive and in the working stages," adding that "we have had talks with the city and will be cooperative in any way that we can."
A highway beautification project along the University Avenue corridor was just completed earlier this year, and officials with both the city and UAPB hope it will spark redevelopment in the area, which now features a mash-up of run-down structures, liquor stores and gas stations.
Hollingsworth said she would like to see more retail businesses such as coffee shops, restaurants, Internet cafes and book stores in the area around the UAPB campus.
"When you look at other cities that have big colleges, such as Conway, the areas around the schools are thriving," Hollingsworth said. "We are going to be doing several different things to look at what we can do to improve the University Drive area. Among them, our zoning ordinances."
Trudy Gail, who works in the area, said she agrees with Hollingsworth that more needs to be done to attract retailers.
"There are just no opportunities along University," Gail said. "You look around, and it's just a bunch of unsightly mess. You'd think a neighborhood around a college would be nicer, but it's not."
As for enhancing the recreational opportunities for Pine Bluff residents, Hollingsworth said a planned aquatics center is high on her list. A multipurpose center is also in the works.
Voters approved partial funding for the aquatics center in 2011, but Hollingsworth has said fundraisers will need to be held to come up with the rest of the cash. The center will cost $6.5 million to build, but the bonds approved will cover only about $4 million, according to city documents.
"We are confident that we can make up the difference, and we will begin fundraising for this project very soon," Hollingsworth said.
Pine Bluff isn't the only city to recently roll out a major improvement plan. On Friday, Hot Springs unveiled its own goals. They include a major downtown revitalization campaign, along with 40 strategies and action items for achieving those goals, according to city officials.
A main component of the campaign includes redeveloping the Majestic Hotel property into a performing arts center, an amphitheater, a parking deck and a public bathing facility that will utilize waters from Hot Springs National Park.
Farther south in El Dorado, officials are working with private donors to create an entertainment district downtown highlighting the historic Rialto Theater. Planners hope that El Dorado can become a mini-Branson, which is known for its live attractions, music and other entertainment venues, El Dorado Mayor Frank Hash has said.
Back in Pine Bluff, some residents are skeptical that anything can be done to help the city, which is steadily losing population and jobs.
According to the 2010 census, the city's population dipped below 50,000 residents for the first time since the 1960s. While the 2010 census counted 49,083 residents, subsequent estimates by the Census Bureau now put the city's population at between 46,000 and 48,000 residents.
At The Pines on a recent afternoon, a group of residents who gather to walk in the mall every other day sat around a table in the food court sipping coffee and discussing city politics.
Randy Collins, 70, said he has seen nothing but decline in the city since moving from Texas about 30 years ago. He said he doesn't hold much hope that things will improve.
"When you look at how things were in the 1980s, Pine Bluff was on track to become one of the most prosperous communities in the state," Collins said. "But then we started losing jobs, and none came to replace them."
Collins and his walking buddy Ray Holmes both said they support the city's efforts to formulate a plan, but they agreed the challenges are great.
"I applaud the effort, and I support it," said Holmes, 68, a lifelong resident of Pine Bluff. "I pray every night for the future of this city, that things will improve. And I will do anything I can as a citizen to help."
State Desk on 10/12/2015