Propak owner hopes historic downtown Fort Smith building becomes a place for ‘grand visions’

Steve Clark’s renovation of the historic Friedman-Mincer building is move-in ready for Propak employees. But it wasn’t redesigned just to be a corporate office. Clark hopes it is a building in which Fort Smith area business and civic leaders may discuss “grand visions” and “consider solutions.”

Clark, founder and president of Fort Smith-based Propak Logistics, announced in May 2013 his plans to renovate the historic and white tiled Friedman-Mincer building – also known as the OTASCO building – at the intersection of Garrison Avenue and Towson Avenue in downtown Fort Smith. It was built in 1911 and renovation costs were in the $2 million-$3 million range, Clark said.

While he hopes renovation of the high-profile building that helps anchor the east end of Garrison Avenue will have a positive “butterfly effect” on the city, it began buzzing Thursday (Feb. 11) with work to move about 50 Propak employees into new offices.

“Come Monday morning most everyone will be coming to work here,” Clark said during a Wednesday tour of the building.

NEW BONES IN OLD SKIN
Propak has had corporate offices in a 9,000-square-foot space in the Arvest tower in Fort Smith. The three-store Friedman-Mincer building has 24,000 square foot of space. The company provides national logistics, transportation and supply-chain management services. The top two floors will initially house Propak’s corporate offices. Clark is not yet talking about his plans for the first floor. The second- and third-floor was designed to be open, with most of the wood used reclaimed from the gutted building. Renovation also required placing a steel structure for support on the inside of the thick brick walls.

“I like to say that we put new bones inside old skin,” Clark said.

The new and old was blended, he said, to create a “nouveau industrial vibe” – exposed brick, old wood, open steel, tall ceilings – and “sense of a creative space” for Propak employees.

“What we did was really step back and be smart about this. We didn’t just see how much we could spend. We really thought about it … about how to be really intentional about ending up with a warm space where people feel welcome and want to stay,” Clark said.

A PLACE TO CONSIDER WHAT’S POSSIBLE
In addition to kitchen areas, large conference rooms and a workout area, it’s no surprise that walls of the top two floors are covered with art. Clark founded and funded the “Unexpected Project,” the umbrella title for the Festival of Murals that brought international urban artists to downtown Fort Smith. The September 2015 event resulted in several large murals painted or created on walls in downtown Fort Smith. Clark has plans for murals on the large first floor wall areas.

Clark’s third-floor corner office is spacious, with a large window providing a view west down Garrison Avenue toward Oklahoma. He was quick to note that the office is more of a community space than personal space, adding “I’ll spend most of my time over here (on a small table) with a laptop.”

Several large seating areas, including one around a working fireplace, “are places for conversation, to consider what’s possible” in the city. Clark, who also was the impetus behind the successful effort to create the Future School of Fort Smith, the city’s first public enrollment charter school, pushed his now common message that “the cavalry is not coming” to help Fort Smith grow and business and city leaders have to “be more innovative.” He wants his office space to be a neutral, safe and welcoming place where the “grand visions” are encouraged and born.

CONFIDENCE IN FORT SMITH
Clark agrees that renovating the historic building was not the most inexpensive way for Propak to expand its corporate offices.

“It reflects confidence in the city, confidence that I have in downtown. … And, honestly, I’m happy for Fort Smith. I really mean that. We have this building, this history, and it’s not in jeopardy,” Clark said.

Clark also rejected the notion that completing the building is the end of a phase that included the murals festival and the Future School.

“No, I don’t look at it like a project or a phase. It’s ongoing … to tell the story of Fort Smith … to tell that (story) around the state and beyond,” Clark said.

“Look, you can say I’m cautiously optimistic about the future of Fort Smith,” he said, looking out a window and away from the reporter. “So there is no cavalry coming, right? So in a sense it’s important that this is an ongoing movement to embrace the where-are-we? conversation.”