McGill touts rapid growth of Fort Smith

Fort Smith Mayor George McGill discusses the significance of Juneteenth and his office's celebration of the holiday Wednesday, June 16, 2021, inside his office.
Fort Smith Mayor George McGill discusses the significance of Juneteenth and his office's celebration of the holiday Wednesday, June 16, 2021, inside his office.

FORT SMITH — Mayor George McGill said residents who don’t know all the city has accomplished recently have simply not been paying attention.

McGill largely discussed how Fort Smith will change in the near future during his state of the city address Wednesday. He said the city has achieved record highs in economic development recently, and he expects the growth to continue.

“One of our major developers the other day — whose family has been here for decades — said ‘George, I’ve never seen this kind of economic activity in my lifetime,’ and that is so true,” McGill said.

A lot of the growth is in the health services industry and education, the mayor said.

“Mercy alone is going to invest close to $170 million into this community. New emergency services, cancer treatment. Baptist is talking about spending $100 million aimed at mental health and women’s health. One developer alone is spending over $100 million in new residential development. Our Colleges of Health Education are pouring $30 million into a new health and wellness research center.”

McGill noted the Colleges of Health Education also plan to house a Haas Hall Academy on its campus, which will be a new, open enrollment charter school for 300 students. He also noted the Community School of the Arts is building a school for students interested in different art forms. The Peak Innovation Center provides medical care, advanced manufacturing and technology-related education to students, and the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith continues to provide a variety of opportunities to area students, he said.

McGill said the education systems in Fort Smith are key for attracting businesses and industries. He noted education was a major draw for the Singapore Air Force to choose Ebbing Air National Guard Base as its preferred location for the Foreign Military Sales program.

“I want to assure you that Fort Smith is preparing to greet our guests from Singapore and from around the world,” he said. “By June 2023, we expect to see the first squadron of 12 F-16 fighter planes touch down in our city. This mission could last for 30 years.”

Col. Rob Ator, who is with the governor’s staff, said the Foreign Military program is like a 2,000-job project, Mc-Gill said.

“This is huge. This is like setting a Nissan plant in the middle of Fort Smith, Arkansas. This is a big deal. The return on investment is close to $1 billion per year,” McGill said.

He noted Fort Smith needs to address major infrastructure, such as Interstate 49 and the bridge over the Arkansas River into Oklahoma, to accommodate growth. He said Fort Smith Regional Airport is expanding its runway to allow for larger aircraft and that he hopes the airline industry sees the potential in flying to the region.

The mayor thanked the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce and all of the companies and businesses for working through covid-19, saying they’ve created jobs to help attract people to the city. He referred to TGE Global Entertainment as an example. It was announced in December that the international film company plans to build a 20-acre film production studio in the city.

“Who would’ve guessed that Hollywood would’ve found its way to Fort Smith, Arkansas? A $30 million investment, with movie stages, sound stages, all at Chaffee Crossing,” McGill said. “People are seeing us and paying attention. Job opportunities will be all new. There will be new job opportunities for people interested in working in the film industry. These are just a few of the projects that will accelerate the growth in this area.”

McGill said residents are seeking more recreational amenities, which the city is providing through new baseball and softball facilities, pickleball courts, a new inclusive playground at John Bell Jr. Park, expanding Parrot Island Waterpark and opening an RV Park near the Arkansas River. He thanked city employees and departments for working on the projects.

“All of that said, we must do our jobs as the city administration, and we’re going to do that. We know what our issues are, and we know the problems,” he said.

McGill spoke about the city’s issues with the sewer system and work required by a consent degree to fix the system.

“We’ve got a consent decree that we work on and try to figure out on a daily basis,” he said.

McGill ended the address by saying all of the growth and development in Fort Smith came from the contribution of its residents and neighbors.

“Let’s continue to be neighborly. Let’s continue to be friendly. Let’s continue to lift our hands and help those in need,” he said.

Monica Brich may be reached by email at mbrich@nwadg.com .

Mayor’s address

To read the address, visit: nwaonline.com/320fortsmith/

Video

To watch McGill’s state of the city address, go to: https://www.facebook.com/FTSmithAR/videos/490168699203704

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