SPRINGDALE -- Karen Lee has seen downtown Springdale change over the past year and said she believes that will continue.
"Week by week, you see a lot of change, I think," she said. Lee lives in Springdale and walked with her husband on the Razorback Greenway to the downtown area on Thursday.
Mayor Doug Sprouse saw momentum build for downtown revitalization in 2015. He said he thinks there is more "buy-in" from residents and business leaders now.
Tyson Foods Inc. announced plans Oct. 9 to add corporate offices at 317 and 319 E. Emma Ave. Board Chairman John Tyson said the plans affirm the company's commitment to help revive downtown Springdale. The company was already planning an employment center and company store two blocks away where about 75 people will work.
Tyson Foods' latest project will add on to the company's former Emma Avenue headquarters to create a two-story corporate office building for about 250 employees. The project is scheduled for completion in 2017.
Work has also begun on a parking lot on the south side of East Meadow Avenue between Luther George/Grove Street Park and the railroad tracks. Those spaces will be available to Tyson employees and the public, Tyson said in October.
Multiple businesses opened in downtown Springdale last year.
Black Apple Crossing, a cider house at 321 E. Emma Ave., opened with an entrance and parking lot off East Meadow Avenue. The Steam, a restaurant, opened in July, co-owner Melanie Vergura said.
Fairlane Station, an event venue that mostly caters weddings, opened at 108 Graham St. in 2014 and started to hold Folk & Food events that year as well, co-owner Dan Faires said.
Folk & Food is a community event with food and music that happens about once a month, Faires said. The Downtown Springdale Alliance provides financial support for the events, which are expected to start again when weather gets warmer in February or March.
Gingiber, which specializes in home decor and nursery items, has moved locations within downtown, said Stacie Bloomfield. She started using the new location at 111 W. Emma Ave. on Jan. 1. Bloomfield said her goal is for the location to be open to the public March 1.
Aldermen approved a downtown master plan for the city in December. Sprouse said the plan was "a huge milestone for 2015." Everything downtown will be built off that plan, he said.
The process of creating the plan included sessions to gain public input. Community members and city leaders joined to share their thoughts about downtown.
The result is a 100-page document with maps, photos, goals and recommendations. It covers housing, food, arts, culture and education, energy, air, water and the landscape. The plan also breaks down implementation into phases.
A parking lot built next to the Arts Center of the Ozarks was a joint effort between the city and the center. The lot is meant to provide parking for events at the center, 214 S. Main St., and can be used by the public at other times, officials said.
The lot has been paved and striped, but some landscaping work remains. Light poles still need to be installed, said Sam Goade, director of the city's public works department.
The greenway had its grand opening downtown on May 2. The trail runs through Walter Turnbow Park, which is next to Shiloh Square between Emma Avenue and Johnson Avenue.
Lee sat on a bench in the park Thursday. She said the greenway is what takes her and her husband downtown on a regular basis. Weather permitting, they walk the greenway near J.B. Hunt Park and downtown multiple times per week.
Sprouse said he thinks the redevelopment of downtown this year will build on its successes. He mentioned a new farmers market as an indicator of the momentum.
The new Mill Street Market is planned to run from April 30 through Oct. 16, said Tiffany Selvey, the market manager. Selvey and her husband, James Selvey, would like to eventually expand the market to be year-round.
Mill Street Market will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays on Mill Street next to the greenway and just north of Walter Turnbow Park. The plan is to focus on fresh food and have local musicians, free cooking demonstrations and free gardening classes, Selvey said.
Walter Turnbow Park is just south of where Mill Street intersects with Johnson Avenue. Work is underway on the next phase of the park, which includes uncapping Spring Creek through the park.
The Walton Family Foundation in 2014 approved a $2 million grant to pay for the second phase of the park. Terry Carpenter, president of USI Consulting Engineers, wrote in a Dec. 11 letter to Patsy Christie, city director of planning and community development, that creek construction could begin in mid-January and be finished in mid-July.
Springdale-based Core Brewing & Distilling Co. plans a new pub in the building just north of First Security Bank and next to the greenway, said Jesse Core, founder of the company. He hopes the pub will be open in the spring.
Chris Brosh, an owner of Phat Tire Bike Shop, said there will be a shop opening downtown. The opening date is "up in the air" and dependent on "completion of our space," he said. The target is either March or April, he said.
Apple Blossom Brewing Company plans to open a satellite pub at 111 E. Emma Ave. in March, Faires said. Faires owns the building and said the owners of the business signed a 15-year lease for the space Jan. 6.
Mark Henry owns Catering Unlimited at 111 Graham St. He is considering a small burger and barbecue restaurant at the same location. Plans are on hold while he sees whether there are enough people who live and work in the area to support it. If Henry moves forward with the restaurant, he said, he hopes for it to open by July.
Redevelopment isn't just for businesses; students have moved into a school downtown. Students from Ozark Montessori Academy, a charter school, moved from The Jones Center into a building at 301 Holcomb St. on Jan. 5, Principal Christine Silano said.
An agenda item for today's meeting of the City Council committee of the whole concerns the downtown master plan and the Downtown Springdale Alliance. Aldermen will discuss a possible "contract with the Downtown Springdale Alliance to promote, preserve, and enhance downtown Springdale, and to facilitate the implementation of the plan." Sprouse said this would be a one-year contract for $50,000.
Metro on 01/18/2016