Little Debbie to Undergo Very Large Expansion

McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn., has announced it is spending $45 million to expand its Little Debbie Snacks plant in Gentry.

The 180,000-SF expansion, which began in fall 2001, is expected to be complete by August and will house a new fryer plant to increase production on honey buns and donut sticks, a news release said.

Nabholz Construction Corp. of Rogers is the general contractor. McKee also is upgrading the wastewater treatment facility and adding another freezer.

The plant, which opened in 1982, employs 1,200 people. About 150 jobs will be created by the expansion.

Rogers Retirement Center to Offer 115 Living Suites

Rogers Retirement Residents LLC of Salem, Ore., recently purchased a building permit valued at $5.6 million to build a large new facility in Rogers.

The Rogers Retirement Center will be at 2501 N. 22nd St. at the intersection of Arkansas Highway 102. It will be 104,000 SF with 115 suites for retired residents.

Coulson & Coulson of Oregon is the general contractor on the project.

First Assembly of God Increasing Sanctuary Size

First Assembly of God in Springdale on Jan. 25 secured a loan of $2.5 million from Arvest Bank of Springdale to more than double the seating capacity in the church’s sanctuary. The current sanctuary only seats about 400, but the addition will bring that capacity to about 1,000. The church averages about 600 in attendance each Sunday.

First Assembly of God, at 1605 W. Robinson Ave., also will be adding to its Christian education center.

Wilkins Homes Inc. of Springdale is the general contractor on the project, which is expected to be completed in early 2003.

Ozark Guidance Center Gets New Bentonville Facility

Ozark Guidance Center recently purchased a building permit valued at $1.6 million to build a new Bentonville facility.

Headquartered in Springdale, OGC has 12 locations in eight Northwest Arkansas towns — Springdale, Fayetteville, Rogers, Bentonville, Siloam Springs, Huntsville, Eureka Springs and Berryville.

The new Bentonville facility will be more than 10,000 SF. It will be next to the existing facility at 2508 S.E. 20th St. and will be named the Miriam Enfield Center for Mental Health in honor of the late wife of Judge William Enfield. Miriam Enfield was on the founding board of OGC in 1970.

The new facility will serve children and adult mental health patients. It will also serve as a home base for school services and case management in Benton County.

The OGC staff of about 400 goes to 17 of the 21 school districts in the four-county area.

The Bentonville facility is on an eight-acre site, and there are three buildings in the long-term development plans. The next two will be built within the next 5-7 years as OGC tries to keep up with the fast population growth of Benton County.

Commerce Construction Co. of Springdale is the general contractor on the project, which is expected to be completed by late August.

There also will be a 437-SF addition and remodeling project at OGC’s preschool facility in Springdale at 2466 S. 48th St. Mike Pennington and Kevin Phillips of Pennington Home Repair & Remodeling Inc. of Fayetteville are handling that project.

Dr. David Williams is the CEO of OGC.

Barnes & Noble Coming to Rogers

Barnes & Noble Inc. of New York on March 19 got a building permit valued at $1.21 million to add another location in Northwest Arkansas.

The new store will be at 261 N. 46th St. at Scottsdale Center in Rogers. It will be 29,000 SF. Nabholz Construction Corp. of Rogers is the general contractor on the project.

Barnes & Noble already has a store at 4144 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville’s Northwest Village across from the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

Barnes & Noble operates more than 800 stores under its own name and many more under the B. Dalton Bookseller brand. The company also owns a 36 percent interest in online store Barnesandnoble.com.

Southside Church of Christ Expands Educational Facilities

Southside Church of Christ in Rogers recently purchased a building permit valued at $1.2 million to expand its educational facilities.

Robert Eldridge of Eldridge Management Co. in Stillwell, Okla., is the general contractor on the project.

Southside Church of Christ is located at 919 S. Dixieland Road in Rogers. It averages about 700 members at its Sunday morning services.

Barnes, Barber Busy with Georgian Place

Bleaux Barnes of Springdale and Brandon Barber of Fayetteville on Feb. 4 purchased eight building permits totaling $665,840 to build eight homes in Fayetteville.

The homes, each 1,435 SF, will be on Melmar Drive in the Georgian Place subdivision near Poplar Street.

M.P. Construction Co. will be the general contractor.

Enderle Doing Her Part with Shadow Valley

Developer Judy Enderle of Rogers recently purchased three building permits valued at a combined $482,188 to add more homes at what will soon become perhaps the largest subdivision in Northwest Arkansas.

Shadow Valley, in southwest Rogers, is a 514-acre golf community west of the Pleasant Grove Road/Interstate 540 intersection and stretching west near Arkansas Highway 112. It is a Charles Reaves development.

Enderle’s homes will be at 5073, 5093 and 5094 Strathmore St.

Shadow Valley will include a championship 18-hole golf course, which is expected to be completed soon.

The $250 million development will include from 1,700-2,000 living units priced at $175,000 and up, with the average home going for about $250,000. Reaves plans eventually to double the project’s size to about 4,000 homes and 36 holes of golf.

Local Builders Continue Willow Bend Construction

Kent Burnett and Legend Builders of Springdale on March 13 purchased two building permits valued at a total of $428,721 to build two new homes at a Springdale subdivision.

Willow Bend subdivision is in south Springdale just north of Johnson.

Legend Builders will be adding a 4,469-SF home at 2427 Willow Bend Circle and a 3,854-SF home at 2699 Willow Bend Circle.

Also, Virgil Knight of Virgil Knight Construction Co. in Tontitown purchased a building permit valued at $196,781 to add a 3,868-SF home at 3065 Willow Bend Circle.