Rogers Has Arrived; Springdale Hopeful, as Attention Turns to Emma

The idea that Springdale is finally going to have its day in the sun of downtown redevelopment is in full ferment. Organizers, artists and merchants alike are hoping corporate dollars will anchor Emma Avenue while investments by small private entities will flesh out the rebirth of a decayed yet substantial city center.

People need a place to eat and drink after a long bike ride on the Razorback Greenway, the consensus goes. Visitors have to have places to shop, things to see and ways to be entertained. Above all, downtown has to achieve critical mass. The aim is to tie together the Jones Center for Families, City Hall, Arts Center of the Ozarks, Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Northwest Medical Center and, at some point, the proposed downtown corporate office for Tyson Foods Inc. If that can be done, people are saying, there might be enough to sustain a micro-economy, as well as a restaurant where one can order a blue-plate special with one meat and two sides.

All that might take a while. But if the real estate scene in downtown is any indication, that day is coming. The warehouse known as the Springdale Central Market sold last year; Tyson has expressed interest in the sagging Jeff D. Brown & Co. hatchery building east of the railroad tracks; the Walton interests, through its Springdale Downtown LLC, recently purchased Ryan’s Clothing and the San Jose Manor on East Emma Avenue for $1.22 million; and there are pending contracts on the Apollo Theater and the commercial space at 126 W. Emma Ave.

And now people are speculating on a future that appears to be bright.

“What we could use is a good eatery and a place that serves cocktails,” said Dan Neill, owner of the vintage junk market Christopher and Co. at 101 E. Emma Ave. “We need to get warm bodies down here and keep them down here.”

Kent Hirsch, who’s had his law office on Emma for 30 years and who is a member of the Downtown Springdale Alliance, agrees with Neill.

“I want a place to eat and drink and be entertained,” he said. “It’s possible, but it will take investment and vision.”

Over at Cellar Door Antiques at 132 W. Emma Ave., owner Joy Parker said, “We need businesses — something to fill every storefront.”

The 2-mile slate from Thompson Street to Parsons Stadium is blank and will likely take years to develop. But if the Springdale contingent is looking for a rough estimate of what a refurbished downtown can become, they need look no further than Rogers.

Iron Horse

Like Springdale, Rogers is not a county seat. It has no square, no monumental institution to anchor its identity, and has seen significant corporate investments on its west side along Interstate 49. But, unlike Springdale, downtown Rogers is booming. People live there, work there and own businesses there. They can walk from their office for lunch and a cup of coffee, and at the end of the day, pick up their clothes from the dry cleaners and stop off and have a beer if they so choose.

Haircuts, art, antiques, law and accounting offices, high-ceilinged lofts and, soon, another performing arts center and a wine bar. While Bentonville has its square and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and while Fayetteville has Dickson Street and the University of Arkansas, Rogers has a rumbling railroad and the region’s densest urban core of bricks and mortar.

And year by year, those buildings have been utilized and renovated, and they have nurtured an ongoing cycle of startup mom and pops, some of which make it and some of which don’t. Yet even if the mortality rate among new, small businesses is high, there are plenty who are willing to take a chance in Rogers.

Among those who managed to thrive is the Davis family, which over the course of 16 years has accumulated seven downtown properties and owns or has an interest in at least five businesses: Iron Horse Coffee Co., Club Frisco, Favorite Tuxedos and Alterations, Holy Orders Liturgical Threads, and The Rail: A Pizza Co.

It all started on South First Street in 1998.

“My son said, ‘I want to open a coffee shop in Rogers,’” said Emery Davis Jr., the Davis family patriarch. “All of First Street was boarded up at that time. The only street that had any function to it was Walnut.”

Times have changed. First Street has been restored and has high occupancy. West of First Street there are big improvements unfolding. Architect John Mack is restoring the 1890 Opera House on Walnut, and the old Rogers City Hall on Elm Street is being renovated by owner Randy Mott, who is converting the building into high-end apartments and a wine bar.

For Davis, a jolly man-about-town who seems to know everyone’s name, times are good. His property at 107 W. Walnut — the historic Harris Baking Co. building — recently went vacant and he’s had to find a new tenant. As with his loft apartments, Davis said he has little trouble finding occupants in a bustling downtown like Rogers.

“You can’t get good people if you don’t have good buildings,” he said. “You make them nice and you get nice people.”

Priced Out

If Rogers is in full bloom, Springdale is still a seedling. But for those who are investing in and around Emma, that’s not a problem.

One of the latest additions to the downtown landscape is a married couple, John and Amber Perrodin, who in August purchased the cavernous, 3,360-SF Springdale Central Market at 509 Success Ave. in the heart of the old east end and snugged up alongside the 36-mile Greenway.

Both the Perrodins are 30 years old, and as they sized up their options for a meaningful future, realized that their best opportunity was in Springdale. Their plan is to establish affordable art studios at the warehouse that will support all manner of mediums — metal work, wood work and print making.

Situated on 1.1 acres, the property is large enough to support public art and scenic gardens, elements that could make the rustic warehouse a destination on the trail.

“We had conversations on whether we should go to Fayetteville,” Perrodin said. “But we felt like we could make a difference here that we couldn’t there.”

The east end is unkempt and far from the limelight. But the Perrodins, organizers of The Little Craft Show and skilled users of social media, have a reach far beyond the physical location of the warehouse. Over time, Perrodin said he wouldn’t be surprised if east Springdale, lined with trees and bungalows, catches on.

“Springdale has the potential to be a great place for working artists who have been priced out of Fayetteville and Bentonville,” he said.