An aggressive plan to spend $1.5 million over seven years to develop part of downtown as a way to capitalize on the popularity of cultural and heritage tourism was presented to the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission last week, but it is unclear whether the commissioners can even vote on the matter at this point because of potential conflicts of interest.
In a two-hour meeting, the case was made that while tourism relating to history, art and culture is a driving force in many communities, that is not so in Pine Bluff.
"Pine Bluff is sitting on a gold mine of history and culture that's never been tapped into," said Sheri Storie, director of the commission. "The culture and history of this town is huge. Pine Bluff has been missing out on these tourism dollars for many, many years. Pine Bluff tourism is basically nonexistent."
Storie said the lack of tourism was brought home to her when the commission's revenue from taxing hotel lodgings and prepared food actually rose slightly last year. If Pine Bluff had been like many other cities that have tourism, the city would have lost significant revenue last year when tourism dollars dried up during the pandemic.
"That's because we do not have actual tourism dollars coming into the city," she said. "And if we do nothing, we will continue losing out on those actual dollars."
Storie was setting the stage, first for Janice Cook, chairwoman of the Pine Bluff-Jefferson County Natural Heritage Trails Task Force, who spoke briefly about the need for Pine Bluff to tell its story, and then for Jimmy Cunningham, executive director of the Delta Rhythm & Bayous Alliance, who spoke passionately for more than an hour about his vision for a downtown that includes geographically specific features that detail Pine Bluff's past.
The idea includes taking an area roughly from Eighth Avenue and State Street to Pine Bluff Regional Park and creating the infrastructure that would highlight historic events and eras.
The stories would include the blues, art, business, war, cotton production, film and television, slavery and civil rights.
Cunningham said some cities are happy to have two or three stories to tell, but Pine Bluff has more than 30.
"We have all this history in one small corridor," Cunningham said. "We have stories and mega stories."
By developing the different elements of Pine Bluff's historic, artistic and cultural past, the city would be able to attach itself to state, regional and national "trails" that highlight those same elements for a broader tourism audience. Those linked collectives include the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, the Americana Music Triangle, the Trail of Tears, the Cotton Kingdom Trail, the Southern Literary Trail, the Equal Justice Institute's Community Remembrance Program, the Arkansas Civil War Trail, the Underground Railroad, the Arkansas Delta Music Trail, and the Arkansas Quilt Trail.
Most of the pieces of what would be called Pine Bluff's Delta Rhythm & Bayous Cultural District Corridor would have a "visitor experience," which would allow it to be included on one of those major tourism routes. Those trails, Cunningham said, are populated by tourism-minded "well-educated baby boomers" who "spend more, stay longer and travel more frequently," adding that heritage tourism equates to some $171 billion annually in the country.
Cunningham then told commissioners that smaller cities had developed at least some of their tourism potential and that they were profiting from that investment. He based that argument on how many Tripadvisor.com comments visitors had left regarding tourism attractions in three other cities. Cunningham said that such a method was not scientific but that the numbers were worth noting.
In New Iberia, La., for instance, for seven tourism-related sites, visitors left 902 reviews. New Iberia has a population of about 29,000.
In Clarksdale, Miss., population 15,734, tourists left more than 2,000 reviews spread over seven sites.
And in Paducah, Ky., population 25,000, tourists left almost 3,000 reviews regarding a handful of sites.
Pine Bluff, however, with a bigger population of around 40,000, had only 126 reviews.
"What that suggests is that what we have here is not enough," Cunningham said. "You can put in all the hotels and restaurants you want, but if the foundation of your tourism effort is not solid, people will not come."
Cunningham said Pine Bluff should be realizing $300 million a year in tourism business but is only seeing a fraction of that.
Pine Bluff venues would focus on such historic elements as its American Indian past, Black history, cotton farming, the city's Jewish heritage, the Civil War and the Battle of Pine Bluff. Other assets that would enhance the corridor would include a Black theater, the shotgun houses and the environments that slaves lived in and the stories of runaway slaves. There also would be a small entertainment venue called The Crawfish and a larger one called Catfish Pavilion, both of which would allow the city to fully embrace annual festivals, which are the hallmark of many smaller towns.
Cunningham said there also would be a study to determine the feasibility of a Delta Public Market, which would allow vendors who don't have permanent sites to sell vegetables, foods, dishes, art and antiques.
Seed money for the venture would come from the commission, Storie said, with some coming from grants and some from other expenses the commission has.
Commissioner Bill Moss was quick to throw his support behind the plan, saying that the quicker the commission acts, the more likely it would be that the commission could attract federal matching dollars.
"Time is of the essence," Moss said. "We need to have our ducks in a row. We have done our homework. I can guarantee you that no other community in the state of Arkansas is going to focus on African American history."
But not all commissioners expressed support. Rosie Pettigrew, chairwoman of the commission, said the plan needed more entertainment for children and families. She also questioned why only the Jewish involvement in Pine Bluff's history was mentioned, while other groups, such as people from China, also played a role in the city's growth.
"I would like to see other ethnic groups involved," she said.
Storie responded, saying there are other sites in town for children and families such as the Nature Center and the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas.
"That's not enough," Pettigrew said.
"No, but those are not the be-all and end-all of what there is to do here," Storie said, adding that "this is not the final version of this plan."
Cunningham said the subjects of the historic sites that the plan focuses on happened at those specific geographic areas.
"It's built on the history of those locations," he said. "We don't need to apologize for that. I don't apologize for the specific space that gives the specific history. If the Chinese had a history at those locations, we will add it. We are simply trying to follow the historical narrative of the areas."
Commission Vice Chairwoman Berinda Eugene said she also would like to see more in the plan for children and families, adding that she didn't think Pine Bluff had enough infrastructure in place, referring to hotels and restaurants, to handle an influx of tourists. She also said that, while she agreed that Pine Bluff's narrative needs to be told, she said that the city's current narrative of crime needs to change before the city can attract tourists.
"I think we need to back up a little bit," Eugene said, who went on to ask where the money will come from to maintain the venues. "I have a lot of questions, and I'm going to need to hear some more before I can vote on anything."
Commissioner Glen Brown Jr., who is also a City Council member, countered, saying people have to have a reason to visit a city.
"The thing is, you've got to start somewhere," he said.
After a pause in the conversation, Moss made a motion to approve the proposal. The plan would be for the commission to provide $1.5 million for the project, which would be done in phases. The outlay would be broken up into contributions of either $125,000 or $250,000 each year for seven years, with Storie pointing out that the total amount is "a drop in the bucket" of what the whole project will cost. That final tally is still being calculated, and Pine Bluff's financial part will depend on how much in grant funding the project can attract, she said.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner Lloyd Holcomb Jr., who is also is on the City Council, but the voting process started to fall apart at that point.
Commissioner Lelan Stice said he would have to recuse from a vote because he owns property in the planned development area, explaining that if the plan was implemented, the value of his property would undoubtedly rise. Then both Pettigrew and Eugene said they, too, would have to recuse for the same reason.
After some additional discussion as to whether there actually would be a conflict of interest and whether the three commissioners could possibly investigate the question further on their own, Storie said she would ask City Attorney Althea Hadden-Scott for an opinion.
At that point, Holcomb withdrew his second to Moss' motion, and the meeting adjourned.
Later in the week, Hadden-Scott told Storie that she believed there would be a problem with the commissioners voting on the proposal.
"In my opinion, there is a conflict of interest for [Advertising and Promotion] commissioners who own property not directly located in the development path, but in the downtown area. ... The value of their property would be directly impacted by the development," Hadden-Scott wrote to Storie. "Must avoid any appearance of impropriety."
Storie said Thursday that she was considering the commission's options. As it stands, however, the commission has seven members. Currently, there is one seat open. But if three of the six current members recuse, the other three can't pass any commission legislation because it takes four members to do that, she said.
"I'm not sure where we go from here," Storie said.
