Beer license part of hopes for Van Buren marina resurgence

story and photo by Marla Cantrell
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Frank Bailey, co-owner of Wildcat Marina in Riverfront Park at the end of Main Street in downtown Van Buren, isn’t what you’d call a wide-eyed optimist.

“They say there’s a sucker born every minute,” Bailey said of his decision to buy the property five years ago. “I guess I was that sucker.”

Still, the 59-year-old retired Marine First Sergeant believes the marina he paid $100,000 for in 2004 could turn a tidy profit if the sinking economy begins to recover. It would help if those who sold boats when recreation took a back seat to say, pay the bills every month, decide to return to the water.

TOUGH BOATING
The National Marine Manufacturers Association reports that year-over-year unit sales fell by 70,310 from 2006 to 2007, the largest drop in a decade, that plunge nearly doubled from 2007 to 2008, falling by another 137,000 units.

But there are signs of recovery. The outlook was a lot worse when gasoline was nearing $4 a gallon. That price has dropped significantly — the cost is now closer to $2.50 — which is a big incentive for those whose boats hold in excess of 150 gallons.  And there are deals in boat showrooms across the nation because of the lack of sales, exceptional interest rates, and a slight rise in consumer confidence.

Bailey can’t control the economy, but he can control the quality of the marina. Just not by himself. That’s why he took on a partner, Jay Stringfellow, and started an estimated $250,000 renovation project last December.

“It’s been a good thing,” Bailey said. “I probably wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t. … Before we started the new construction, one part of the building would start moving and then 10 minutes later the other part of the building would move. It was cut in so many places.  Our insurance company gritted every time they saw it.”

SIGNS OF RECOVERY
The agent is smiling now. The cedar-shake building is pristine, five security cameras serve as the watchdogs for the marina, and 14 of the 20 slips are filled, one with a $600,000 boat. At another slip, a couple is living on their boat. Their makeshift kitchen consists of a grill next to a table and four chairs on a roped-off section of the dock. So far, the cold weather hasn’t driven them away.

Bailey hopes to see all the slips filled; it’s where most of his revenue comes from. The smaller ones rent for $85 a month, the larger slips for $230. And come summer, he’s considering renting out a house boat or two, so those flirting with the idea of cruising the Arkansas River can see what it’s like without making the long-term commitment of ownership.

TIKI BAR DREAMS
He also wants to put in a Tiki bar next door to Wildcat, where he’d like to serve beer to the boaters, along with a burger or barbeque, or maybe a hot dog. He thinks he could draw in customers from the water, along with townspeople and tourists checking out historic downtown.

Of course, that means a liquor license from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, something he’s not yet applied for.

“The application should be arriving any day. When I get it, we’ll start the process,” Bailey said.

Sister’s Bistro, a few blocks away from the marina, was the first in the traditionally dry town to get a liquor license. That was two years ago. Two other Van Buren restaurants on Highway 59, China Buffet and Chili’s, are in the process to get a liquor license from the board.

When Bailey first turned the key on the marina, he never imagined he would be brainstorming for ways to bring in revenue. He had been living in Las Vegas, saw an ad on line, took his first trip to Arkansas, and decided to stay. Bailey thought the marina would be a stable money maker.

“Five years ago, when I bought this place, I could say it looks like it’s thriving,” Bailey said. “Right now, it does scare me.”

MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
But there is hope for Wildcat. For one thing, his marina is the only game in town.

“The only other place to put in here is on the other side of Fort Smith Park and you’ve got 15 miles of river with no access,” Bailey said. “It makes no sense to me. … The next place is Applegate’s in Sallisaw and you’ve got Russellville down below.”

That leaves this part of the river wide open for development.

“I’ve been a boater all my life,” Bailey said. “When we were first looking at the marina I was amazed at this whole river system here and how little development it has.”

He also thinks a little marketing couldn’t hurt. He runs into people all the time who seem oblivious to the Arkansas River.

“You have some people in Van Buren and Fort Smith who drive across the bridge every day and don’t realize the river’s here,” Bailey said. “They don’t realize you can put a boat in right here, take off down river, and go clear to the Gulf of Mexico. Or anywhere in the world for that matter.”

He’s seen boats come in from Florida and California. Sometimes the cruisers spend a few days with him. Often they go into town, have a nice dinner, ride the excursion train.  They often return the following year to relive the experience.

Once he reopens in March, he expects it to offer an even better place to stay. And maybe he’ll be able to convince a few people who typically spend the summer on the lake, to upsize to the river.

“Some people realize after about 15 years on a lake, the kids are gone and you’re sick of going around in a circle,” Bailey said. “You want more adventure in your life and you’ve got more time so you move your boat someplace like this and you start taking cruises.”

It could happen.

And Bailey has the perfect route for new and old cruisers alike. It’s called the Great Loop — a cruise that starts in Mississippi, goes through Alabama, Florida, the Great Lakes and then circles back again.

So, he’s biding his time, making changes at Wildcat Marina to draw the boaters in. But he’s also betting on a river that never changes.

“It’s a different way of life (on the river) and it hasn’t changed and probably never will,” Bailey said. “The economy does what it does but the river never goes away.”