SPRINGDALE -- Downtown will grow structurally and aesthetically with a new criminal justice building featuring a "unique urban" design style.
The Walton Family Foundation announced its three latest Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program projects Wednesday, with one being committed to Springdale's city administration area downtown. The other projects are a 5-acre park in Siloam Springs and a private school in Bentonville.
Other Grants
The Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program also provided design grants Wednesday to:
• A 5-acre park in downtown Siloam Springs’ Medical Springs Park to serve as a beacon to visitors and residents. The grant will pay for the design of a splash pad, amphitheater, landscaped areas, open green spaces and a new farmers market venue.
• Thaden School in downtown Bentonville, which recently announced award-winning architects Eskew+Dumez+Ripple of New Orleans and Marlon Blackwell Architects of Fayetteville will design its 30-acre campus, school buildings and landscape.
Source: Luis Gonzalez, senior communication officer for the Walton Family Foundation
City leaders will use the $3.3 million grant to cover the cost of designing a criminal justice building, and Mayor Doug Sprouse said he hopes to pay for the construction with a bond issue in 2018.
"With a bond issue, there would be no increase in taxes to our residents," he said.
The new building would be north of the City Administration Building at 201 Spring St., Sprouse said.
The mayor said he and fellow city officials learned about the design program last year and asked the Walton Family Foundation for more information about two months ago.
Karen Minkel, Home Region Program director of the Walton Family Foundation, said the city was invited to apply for a grant.
"We thought it would be a strong Design Excellence Program candidate," Minkel said. "It serves as an important gateway to the downtown and was one of the key recommendations in the Downtown Master Plan."
"I think it's great," Alderman Rick Evans said. "Anytime the Walton Family donates money or a grant (to Springdale), it's great for the community."
The building will house the Police Department and city attorney's office now in the administration building, district court and the information technology department. The building inspection office at 107 Spring St. and community engagement office, across the street from the administration building, will move to the administration building, filling the spaces the Police Department and city attorney's office occupied. That part of the administration building will be renovated to suit the change, Sprouse said.
The new building and renovation will create a "municipal campus," Minkel said.
Centralizing city and law enforcement offices into a municipal campus frees spaces toward the continuous effort to revitalize downtown Springdale, Sprouse said.
"This will be a great benefit to downtown, to our residents and to our Police Department," Sprouse said.
The building will be designed by an architecture firm selected by city officials from a slate of firms associated with the design program. The program has a pool of more than 50 architecture and landscape architecture firms representing 15 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Denmark, Minkel said.
The building will have an innovative urban design that also compliments surrounding architecture, she said.
"We are looking for projects that compliment and enhance our existing urban fabric, so you're not going to wind up with a lot of unicorn buildings that don't fit in, (but instead) honor the area's rich tradition and advance the design in the community," Minkel said.
The Walton Family Foundation launched the Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program in 2015 with three projects: a 51,500-square-foot performance art space for TheatreSquared in downtown Fayetteville, a 28,000-square-foot adaptive reuse project for the Rogers Historical Museum in downtown Rogers and a new 44,000-square-foot facility and half-acre playground for the Helen R. Walton Children's Enrichment Center in downtown Bentonville, according to Luis Gonzalez, senior communication officer for the foundation.
The program selects three Northwest Arkansas projects each year with a key goal of bringing innovative building designs to downtown areas, Minkel said.
"The Springdale municipal campus will be the first municipal building that is a part of the Design Excellence Program," she said.
The program will potentially bring more unique designs to Springdale's downtown area, Minkel said.
"We are thrilled to see the momentum in downtown Springdale and the city's commitment to executing its downtown master plan," she said. "It makes sense to partner with the city. I'm sure we will do that."
NW News on 11/17/2016