South School Avenue Looks for an Identity

If the downtown square is Fayetteville’s signature photograph, a short stretch of U.S. Highway 71B known as South School Avenue might look out of focus.

South School, which is about a mile from the square, is home to some of the city’s more unsightly buildings. It garners little attention from new businesses in Fayetteville. Things were tough enough for businesses on South School, but they got even tougher when Drake Field lost its commercial flights and Interstate 540 made it possible for many residents to bypass 71B when heading south out of Fayetteville.

While development has hardly been brisk on South School, at least one developer believes the area will one day find its niche. And that niche could be the reproduction of the old Dickson Street’s aura, which was changed by the upscale improvements and the attention to family involvement that created today’s Dickson Street.

“In my opinion, [South School] could be the next Dickson Street,” said Rob Merry-Ship, owner of Merry-Ship Properties and co-owner of North College Development Co. “There are people that are always going to want the old Dickson Street.

“There’s a lot of little restaurants down there, and you could put a lot of little music clubs down there. It would be a little less expensive and funkier version of today’s Dickson Street. I’m not talking about trying to create a Bourbon Street or anything, but kind of like some towns in Texas where you can pull right off the road and park and go door to door to several clubs. It would be like some of the side streets that have a funkier side to them in some towns.”

Merry-Ship likened what he could foresee in South School’s future to what Joe Fennel did on Dickson Street with his streetside patio at Jose’s Mexican Restaurant.

Merry-Ship also noted that the parking and lighting would be good and that the area of South School that has a handful of small restaurants doesn’t have the flooding that plagues some nearby residential areas. He said the section of South School could have a frontier appearance.

“I can see some guys going down there and investing in things,” Merry-Ship said. “It’s accessible and it’s not super dangerous. There have been some improvements. It’s not going to happen overnight, but you’ve got the buildings and you’ve got the parking. That’s the key. I can see people going down there.”

There is very little retail business on South School. Some of the oldest businesses in the area are Vaughn Battery Co., the Farmers Co-Op, and the American Milling and Feed Store.

Vaughn Battery, at 601 S. School, has been in the same building since 1952.

“We’d probably do better somewhere else, but we’ve been here so long I just don’t want to move,” said Wes Vaughn, owner of Vaughn Battery. “I’m sure it costs us a little. For people on the north side of town it’s just not convenient to drive down here.”

Mike Johnson, the owner of Cowboy Up Western Store, at 800 S. School Ave., has had his current business in south Fayetteville for almost three years.

Cowboy Up is actually in the area because of other businesses nearby.

“The only advantage we have for being [on South School] is the fact that we are near the Washington County Livestock Auction and the two major feed stores,” Johnson said. “Those places have people coming to them that are interested in Western-type stores.”

Cowboy Up is the only all-Western store in Fayetteville.

Johnson is not overly optimistic about South School turning over a new leaf any time soon.

“The fact is that this area has gone virtually unimproved since I’ve been around,” Johnson said. “It’s not a very prideful area. We have yearlong yard sales, and people just don’t put much time and respect into the area. I certainly haven’t seen much change. And I don’t think anything will change on the south side of town till the property owners take a little more pride.”

Some entrepreneurs could be scared away by the large number of people walking the streets in south Fayetteville. Vagrants sometimes live underneath a bridge on South School.

“You’ve got the bus stop, the Salvation Army and a lot of low-income housing down here, so one thing you see on the south side of town is a constant flow of [people walking the streets],” Johnson said. “I’m actually kind of surprised, though, that the crime rate is not higher than it is. We have not had anything more than a little vandalism. I’ve caught just one shoplifter the whole time we’ve been here.”

One sign of possible change could be the development Rob Sharp is planning with the former Golden Nugget Feed Mill at the corner of South School and West Sixth Street. The frame of the old feed mill will reportedly be renovated into a unique office building with mixed usage. It will be across the street from Vaughn Battery.

“I welcome any new plans going up in the area,” Vaughn said. “The more development, the better off we’ll be. If more people start coming down here, it would become more convenient for them to stop by.

“I would like to see a little more attention paid to this side of town. There’s a lot of old buildings just sitting here that would be neat for someone to open a business in.”

Some of the low-income housing will most likely never be renovated because of the flood area just southwest of South School. But other houses could be remodeled similarly to those near Dickson Street that once were run down.

“You can put a lot into those bungalow-type houses, but you can get a lot out of them, too,” Merry-Ship said.

Business owners hope investors will feel the same way about South School.

“I think it’s coming,” Merry-Ship said. “It may take some time, but I think you’ll see [businesses] slowly going down there.”