Bella Vista Village at 50

In 2015, the city of Bella Vista will celebrate two pivotal events in its history. The year marks the 50th anniversary of its inception as a retirement village, and also the 100th since the construction of Lake Bella Vista.

Bella Vista has served as an asset to the Northwest Arkansas economy for years, because of its status as a boon for recreation. It began in the early 20th century as a summer resort spot and then later became a quintessential retirement haven under the vision of businessman John Cooper Sr.

It is now a 44-square-mile town, incorporated in 2007, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated in 2013 the population was about 28,000, comprised of all ages. However, vacationers and residents from throughout Northwest Arkansas are still able to enjoy the golf courses, lakes and other recreational features that stem from the bedroom community’s unique history.

The Bella Vista Property Owners Association intends to commemorate the 50th anniversary during its regular annual events throughout the year, and also has planned several celebrations specifically for the anniversary.

On June 13, the POA will host Fishing in Paradise, a family-friendly celebration at Lake Avalon with adult tournament and kid’s fishing derby.

POA manager Connie Willoughby said the event is one of several she hopes to recreate each year in the future.

The community’s 50th anniversary is as much about the next half-century as it is the previous, she said. 

Other plans include a pre-fireworks event on July 3, a bike rally and poker run Sept. 25-26 to coincide with Bikes, Blues & BBQ, and a Festival of Trees in November. 

The Bella Vista Historical Museum also will commemorate the city’s anniversaries in 2015. The museum, however, will focus on the 100th year since the creation of Lake Bella Vista. 

On May 16, the museum will host an outdoor celebration alongside Lake Bella Vista, and throughout the museum’s regular season (March-December) will feature new exhibits each month to show the changes that took taken place in Bella Vista through each of the 10 decades within the centennial.

 

Bella Beginning

Lake Bella Vista was created in 1915 when Benton County minister William Baker and his wife Mary dammed Sugar Creek, said Xyta Lucas, vice president of the Bella Vista Historical Society, the organization that operates the museum. They intended to open a summer resort, but didn’t have the money to sustain it and soon the land ended up in the hands of the Linebargers, three brothers who had found success in the Texas real estate industry and who had spent time in Bentonville as children.

They opened the resort in 1917. It featured summer cottages, lots to build on, and plenty of amenities, including lodges, a dance pavilion, restaurants, a concrete, Olympic-sized swimming pool, and a nine-hole golf course by the lake.

Women and children were the main occupants throughout the summer, and days were filled with horseback riding, cave exploration, lake swimming and canoeing, and the men would ride in on the train to Rogers in order to make it to Bella Vista for the weekends, Lucas said. The Linebargers sent salesmen into big cities in order to advertise “the gem of the Ozarks” to people who could afford the resort experience, she added.

The Sunset Hotel was built in the late 1920s, and the fact that the 65-room hotel had a private bath for each room was unique, and it made it a draw for people throughout the country, Lucas said.

The Wonderland Cave attraction was opened in 1930. It provided exploration opportunities and also served as an underground night club, a unique feature that also brought in visitors from all around.

The Linebargers kept the resort running for 35 years, through the Great Depression and World War II, but in the post-war years, a shift in lifestyle spelled trouble for the business model.

As automobiles became more prevalent, fewer families opted to spend the entire summer vacation in one place. 

 

Family Fun

E.L. Keith, a Cave Springs fish hatchery owner, embraced this market when he purchased the resort in 1952. He updated the pool and added a wading pool, miniature golf courses and shuffleboard courts, and redesigned the dance pavilion into a roller rink, Lucas said.

He ran Bella Vista as a family-friendly recreational park for about 10 years, before John Cooper Sr. set his sights on the property to build a retirement village.

Cooper found success opening the Cherokee Village retirement community in northeast Arkansas and, with eyes on the Lake Bella Vista area as its crown jewel, began to purchase farms in 1962 from the Missouri state line to the lake that he envisioned would be Bella Vista Village.

He bought about 40,000 acres in the name of Cooper Communities Inc. and avowed to build a large retirement/recreation village — but only if he could acquire the lake and the name, Bella Vista, and Keith reluctantly sold in 1963, according to the Bella Vista museum website.

Cooper opened Bella Vista Village in 1965, complete with tens of thousands of lots available for the construction of retirement homes.

He also went to work developing more amenities. Major contributions included building six new lakes and seven golf courses, and opening the Bella Vista Country Club in 1968, Lucas said.

The golf courses especially, considered high-quality and an economical choice compared to others throughout the country, became a draw for recreation.

The village grew quickly. On average, 1,334 lots were sold per year between its opening and a 1993 study from the University of Arkansas, prepared for Cooper Communities Inc.

Talks of incorporation emerged as early as 1977, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. However, the option was unpopular with a majority of residents for several decades, until the size and demographics changed to the point where becoming a city was inevitable in the minds of many Bella Vistans.

 

Village to City

Before it was on the radar of the U.S. Census Bureau, resident volunteers estimated the population of Bella Vista to be about 1,000 in 1973.

Census data indicates the population grew to about 4,000 in 1980, more than doubled to 9,000 in 1990 and almost doubled again during the next decade, reaching about 17,000 in the year 2000. 

The last official census in 2010 showed a population of 26,000, only 31 percent of which was of retirement age, 65 or older.

Over the years, Bella Vista evolved from retirement village to bedroom community for Northwest Arkansas, due, at least in part, to the rise of “Vendorville.”

As vendors of retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. moved into the area between the late 1990s and now, many of their employees have turned to the community for affordable, quality housing, Lucas said. 

After incorporation, Bella Vista’s first mayor, Frank Anderson, spent his two terms helping put in place the city’s government. Lucas said the city took on functions that previously were handled by the POA, including a police force, fire protection and street maintenance.

Mayor Peter Christie took office in January and is tasked with continuing to improve the infrastructure of the new city.

As a residual from its days as a village, Bella Vista’s water and sewer services are still handled by the POA for now, Lucas said.

And the city’s unique history has also afforded Bella Vista and the surrounding areas the benefit of millions of hours of volunteer efforts from retirees, she added.

The POA also is still responsible for the city’s bread and butter, amenities such as the lakes, golf courses, recreation centers, marinas and tennis courts.

Willoughby said the POA’s goal is to retain the beauty of Bella Vista as it is, while also appealing to younger generations. That might involve getting rid of a golf course or two and continuing to build biking and walking trails.

“We don’t want to destroy or damage the gorgeous town that has been built, but we can’t move forward without younger people. We need to hear from them about what they want,” Willoughby said. “We want people to see the beauty of what we have, what we consider to be the little diamond of Northwest Arkansas.”