The approval to move forward with the design for a go-kart track was tabled during Tuesday's Urban Renewal Agency meeting as their 2022 budget remains in the hands of the Pine Bluff City Council.
Because the 2022 budget for the city of Pine Bluff has not yet been approved, URA interim director Chandra Griffin suggested the approval be tabled until the group's next meeting in January.
LEVEL5 Architecture was approved to render design and engineering services for the Electric Go-Kart Track at 2100 Harding Ave. last month.
Justin Gilmore, with LEVEL5 Architecture, and his project manager were in Pine Bluff Tuesday to attend the meeting following a day of touring 10 downtown buildings on Main Street between Third and Fourth avenues that the URA acquired earlier this year.
Gilmore still plans to have his team come out in January to survey the area for the track. According to Gilmore, plans will include the design of the entertainment facility and the construction of the track.
Projected building plans, according to Griffin will include party rooms and a restaurant.
"We will design the building and provide all the power systems for the electric go-karts," he said. "All you guys are doing is finding an operator to operate it. They'll bring their equipment in and they're ready to go."
Griffin said Urban Renewal has talked to an investor who is interested in operating the go-kart track.
The construction of the track alone will cost approximately $750,000, officials said.
A walk-through of the downtown buildings, Gilmore said, showed that most of them had collapsed sections and were unsafe.
According to Gilmore, the empty shell building at 325 Main St. would be the easiest to preserve, but it wasn't the most critical.
The building right next to Pop's Barbershop, which features three buildings in one structure, has an all-wood frame structure inside that is mostly collapsed, Gilmore said.
"The façade of the building is actually starting to collapse," he said. "That is probably our No. 1 priority."
Gilmore said most of the buildings are covered with stucco and plaster, which helped protect the masonry, but that that material will need to be removed to preserve the historical look of the structures.
URA Chairman Jimmy Dill said his primary concern was making sure some of those buildings did not collapse, as has happened with other downtown buildings
"We want to make sure we stabilize these buildings," he said.
Gilmore agreed and said next month when he returns with his team he will also provide a preliminary report with preliminary costs.
Justin Gilmore, with LEVEL5 Architecture, said the downtown buildings on Main Street between Third and Fourth avenues were in dangerous condition. (Pine Bluff Commercial/Eplunus Colvin)