El Dorado had a rather ordinary beginning. From its founding in 1845, the town slowly grew to where in January 1921 it could boast 3,800 farmers, merchants, and woodsmen, who struggled to survive. The area's virgin timber had been harvested and the sandy soil could barely produce enough cotton to pay the bank for the seed. It was a grim outlook these El Dorado folks faced as they started the New Year.
However, at 4 p.m. Jan. 11, 1921, there was a thunderous roar west of town. Almost the entire population of the little village hurried to where oil was roaring through the top of a wooden derrick. The Bussey No. 1 Armstrong had come in as a gusher, ushering in an oil boom unlike anything anyone in Arkansas had ever seen.
Within five years hundreds of wells had been drilled, and the value of the oil produced during those five years was greater than the entire appraised value of all the property in the state. In those five years Union County's population mushroomed from 5,000 to 100,000, and El Dorado's population soared to an estimated 40,000.
Almost all of the wood-frame downtown buildings, the three churches and the red brick Victorian courthouse were scraped off, and in their place some magnificent buildings appeared. Many of El Dorado's city leaders of the 1920s had been in World War I and had seen the wonderful buildings of Europe, and with the oil-boom money they did their best to emulate them.
After the excesses of the oil boom settled out, El Dorado's population stabilized between 28,000 and 30,000 in the '50s and '60s.
However, as El Dorado's manufacturing base relocated to cheaper labor out of the country, the county and city steadily lost population until it dipped under 20,000 in 2010. When it became obvious that the manufacturing jobs that sustained the city would never return, different ways to reverse the downward trend in growth were considered. A group called 50 For the Future was formed and its mission was to turn the negative growth rate around and once again have an expanding economy.
Roger Brooks, a destination expert from Seattle, was invited to address the business community in El Dorado. He was so impressive that 50 For The Future and the City of El Dorado each put up $25,000 and hired Mr. Brooks to recommend how to reverse El Dorado's decline.
After working on the project a year, he came back with a thick packet of recommendations. The key to his vision was to make El Dorado an entertainment destination. He called the project El Dorado! The Festival City of the South. Mr. Brooks' premise is that small- to medium-size towns must be a destination if they are to grow and prosper.
To become a destination you must have something that will attract people to visit your city, but it goes further than that. A town also must appeal to skilled professionals. They want what all of us desire: entertainment, good restaurants, a safe, attractive downtown and good schools.
In 2009 El Dorado's restored downtown was selected at the top downtown out of over 1,000 Main Street communities under 50,000 in population. Mr. Brooks used that foundation to build upon his recommendations.
• Phase One, Murphy Arts District:
The project is a block off the downtown square, centered around the 1929 Rialto Theater and the adjacent buildings. The 1920s-era Griffin Auto Building, once a Ford Motor Company showroom, is a huge, open steel-arched structure that has been converted into a 2,200-seat Broadway stage-quality theater called the Griffin Music Hall. It includes a cabaret restaurant, the Griffin, which opened recently with sold-out performances each Thursday from the cabaret stage. It's Thursday Night Live at the Griffin!
Adjacent to the Griffin building, an 8,000 capacity amphitheater has been constructed; during recent opening weekend festivities, Brad Paisley filled it to capacity. Work continues on the MAD Playscape, which will be the largest children's play area in the state.
• Phase Two, MAD:
The MAD Art Museum is the next major agenda item. Renovation of the 1920s-era McWilliams Furniture Building will start within a few weeks. The museum will have three floors of display areas and connections with other regional and national museums to offer rotating art displays featuring top American and European artists. As this work progresses, one of the remaining 1920s Ritchie Grocery Buildings will be converted into a recital hall and small black-box theater.
Work will begin next on the Rialto Theater, the crown jewel of the MAD, a 1929 Art Deco vaudeville-movie house that will be the crown jewel of MAD. This major project will restore the interior and exterior to exactly the condition it was when it opened, plus the addition of numerous enhancements.
The facilities that are finished and those under construction will bring in professionals to reverse the population loss and create jobs. MAD is creating exactly what these folks are looking for as they leave the mega-cities. In 10 years, after MAD is finished, I predict several positive things will have taken place in El Dorado.
Well over 500 new jobs will be created, the new, empty Industrial Park will become a high-end residential subdivision, El Dorado's population will pass 30,000, dozens of stores and restaurants will open, South Arkansas Community College will become a four-year university, real estate values in the two shopping areas off North West Avenue and downtown will double, and Hot Springs couples will start buying condos in El Dorado.
Since the initial opening of MAD exceeded all expectations in attendance and job creation and multiple events have attracted such a large audience, these projections very likely underestimate the final success of the completed MAD. At the present MAD has 310 full and part-time employees, and they are still hiring.
That is how you make a town a destination. Skilled workers will grow a town if it offers the quality of life they want. And the town's young people will be encouraged to stay. It's up to the town to give both groups what they want, or face a continuing population loss.
Richard Mason is a registered professional geologist, downtown developer, former chairman of the Department of Environmental Quality Board of Commissioners, past president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, and syndicated columnist. Email richard@gibraltarenergy.com.
Editorial on 11/19/2017