EUREKA SPRINGS -- It's spring break in Arkansas' quirkiest tourist town.
But the streets are almost deserted.
"It's so dead in Eureka Springs you could roll a bowling-ball down down the street and not hit a single thing," said Mayor Robert "Butch" Berry.
Eurekans are trying to follow orders during the March of the coronavirus. Apparently, tourists are complying as well.
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Gov. Asa Hutchinson ordered bars to close; restaurants can be open only for takeout, drive-thru or delivery.
Along Eureka Springs' dog-legged Spring Street, most shops are shuttered. A couple of sweet shops were open on Wednesday.
"Spring break is what kind of gets us through to summer," said Krystin Johnson, owner of Sweet's Fudge Kitchen, which has been in business since 1969. "It's normally crazy."
But not this year. Johnson said her sales are down about 80% this week, compared with spring break 2019.
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"This will probably be the last weekend," she said. "We'll have to close for a while."
That is, until the virus runs its course.
"I don't like this new world," Johnson said.
Founded around springs that allegedly had healing powers, Eureka Springs has always drawn a diverse crowd of locals and tourists.
"During the twentieth century, the town attracted an eclectic population, and today it is a mecca for artists, writers, the religious community, and the gay and lesbian community," according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Berry said it's bad that businesses don't have much traffic right now.
"But it's good that the people are paying attention and trying to flatten the curve of that virus," he said. "It reminds me of the winter season back in the '70s, when we rolled up the sidewalks on Nov. 1, and we didn't unroll them until the Passion Play started the first of May."
"I would say its much quieter than in the wintertime," said Justin Huss, the city's parks director, referring to more recent winters.
Things have been changing quickly from one day to the next.
On Wednesday, the Great Passion Play announced that it wouldn't open for the season on Easter weekend as planned and there would be no Easter sunrise service at the Christ of the Ozarks, a seven-story statue that looms over Eureka Springs from atop Magnetic Mountain.
"We at the Passion Play are praying the Lord will intervene in this crisis and help us in His way for His glory," according to the announcement. "We do plan on performing the Passion Play. The date of our 2020 season opening is yet to be determined."
Earlier on Wednesday, the Passion Play's website indicated that the show would go on but social distancing would be observed by capping ticket sales at 1,000 for performances in the 4,000-seat outdoor amphitheater.
The Rev. Randall Christy, executive director of the the Passion Play, said the Health Department requested that the Easter services be canceled.
"We were going to keep each family way more than 10 feet apart," said Christy. "The director of the health department thought it would not be acceptable, even though it's outdoors and huge space for separation."
Christy said a DVD of the Passion Play's new performance will be streamed on its Facebook page and YouTube on the nights of April 10 and 11. It also will be made available to television stations that want to air it over Easter weekend.
"We are happy to do our part to protect the citizens of Arkansas," Christy said in an email. "We are praying for a miraculous end to this virus -- asking all in Arkansas to join with us in that prayer. We believe in medical science, that the Lord has given us cures before and can do it again."
Normally, the only Passion Play performances in April are on Easter weekend. Now, the first live performance of the season is scheduled for May 1. If that won't work, they'll shoot for Memorial Day weekend, said Christy.
The outdoor drama depicts the last days in the life of Jesus Christ. The performances feature a cast of 150 people and live animals, including camels, horses, donkeys, sheep and birds.
Huss said the city also is enforcing social distancing. Huss said he went to Lake Leatherwood City Park on Saturday, where he saw about 100 people, including 30 kids at the playground.
"It's been eating at me," said Huss.
So this week, the city closed all playgrounds and campgrounds in the 1,700-acre park. Cabin rentals have ceased, and the marina is closed.
Parks remain open.
But all public events in the park that were expected to attract more than 10 people have been canceled.
The city has temporarily stopped providing a shuttle to take cyclists and bicycles back to the top of the hill after they descend on The Leatherwood Gravity Project, an 8-mile network of downhill bicycle trails.
The city has another 30 miles of multiuse trails, and Huss is encouraging people to use the trails and get exercise, but to remain 6 feet apart to help prevent the spread of covid-19.
"We are front line on the impact of this, financially," said Huss. "It's really going to be something here. We have a service industry full of restaurant workers and bartenders."
Huss said tourism is the only industry in Eureka Springs.
"We don't have other industry here," he said. "We just simply don't. It's a challenging time. Everybody in this town, they're trying to make a little bit of money and be careful and keep things going."
A large Alcoholics Anonymous convention, called Springtime in the Ozarks, has been canceled this year, and Eureka Springs' UFO conference has been postponed until July.
A couple of weeks ago, things were booming, said Berry.
"We had probably one of the best weekends we've had for this time of year," he said.
On Wednesday, a few tourists were milling about Spring Street in the city's downtown entertainment district.
Kevin Brennan of Arkadelphia said he drove up to Eureka Springs for a short vacation.
"This is a nice place to get away," said Brennan, who teaches international relations at Ouachita Baptist University. "I don't have to get on an airplane like going to New York or Boston."
Brennan said he was having to get his meals to-go and eat them in his hotel room.
Still, Brennan said he was enjoying Eureka Springs. He likes to walk around the historic downtown and nearby trails.
"This is small enough that you can really engage in social distancing," he said. "It's better than staying at home. It's actually easier to walk around here."
Metro on 03/27/2020