Columnist Nails It

It’s always nice to see a columnist who gets it, and Rex Nelson understands what is really going on with the miracle of Bentonville.

Nelson is president of Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities in Little Rock and puts his encyclopedic knowledge of all things Arkansas to fantastic use as a freelance columnist for several publications.

His op-ed published Feb. 26 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette examined the contrast of what’s happening in two Arkansas downtowns — Bentonville and Hot Springs.

The profile of the former is on the rise, both regionally and nationally.

“All Arkansans should take pride in what’s happening in suddenly chic Bentonville,” Nelson wrote.

The profile of the latter, a destination for tourists for a century, is in somewhat of a shocking decline, reinforced recently when the windows of the landmark Majestic Hotel, closed since 2006, were boarded up.

As growth occurred elsewhere in the city, “downtown Hot Springs has been in decline for more than four decades,” Nelson wrote. “What was happening downtown was the elephant in the room that we didn’t mention. Now Arkansans can no longer afford to ignore the elephant.”

The reason the media is continually focusing on the dozens of business successes in and around Bentonville’s downtown square is that it provides a glaring contrast to what can happen without a plan.

Bentonville leaders flatly decided that downtown was important and prioritized a plan to design a welcome mat for the area.

Of course, the idea and realization of Crystal Bridges of American Art has been a key component

But in Bentonville’s downtown square, residents, city officials, property-owners and real estate brokers have all played a role in creating a destination by promoting unique, local, independent businesses.

It’s no secret: People visit because the square offers something they can’t get anywhere else. The playbook is simple, and it works.

And, as Nelson asserts, it’s crying out for someone in Hot Springs to steal it.