Public-private bicycle, skate park planned for downtown Fort Smith at U.S. Marshals Museum site

The Central Business Improvement District (CBID) is considering participation in a planned $600,000 bicycle and skate park at the rock and flagpole marking the original planned site of the United States Marshals Museum.

The museum site will relocate to the north of the park, still along the riverfront, according to CBID commissioner Bill Hanna.

“The park will be complementary to the Marshals Museum,” Hanna told Talk Business & Politics at a meeting Tuesday (Aug. 15).

Hanna said the venture is intended to be a public-private partnership between the private sector and the city of Fort Smith, with the city footing the bill on the land acquisition (estimated $200,000) and a 25-space parking lot.

“I haven’t seen figures on the parking lot,” Hanna noted, adding the private sector would handle bike and skate park amenities.

The origin of the project started “about six months ago,” Hanna said, referencing a “voice in the private sector, who wanted to see something happen and said, ‘Hey, we need money for this and we need a place to put it.’ And that started a discussion with the Marshals Museum.”

The location is marked by a rock commemorating the future site of the U.S. Marshals Museum along with a flagpole. The bicycle park portion will offer a place for children to hone their two-wheeled skills as well as a “pump track” and a fully equipped portion for skateboarders.

“Young kids can come get on the pump track, and then go with their parents on the trail. It’s just kind of another offering to keep people down there and using the riverfront,” Hanna said, adding that it would be a “service to the Museum.”

Hanna mentioned the bicycle park in response to commissioner Phil White’s challenge for the CBID to get involved with another project and “accomplish something” downtown. The CBID’s support previously led to installation of the splash pads in downtown Fort Smith. Also, the group — along with CBID commissioner Steve Clark-backed development group 64.6 Downtown — championed the Propelling Downtown Forward strategic redevelopment plan recently approved by the city’s Board of Directors.

As for the Marshals Museum, it is slated to open Sept. 24, 2019. Patrick Weeks, the Museum’s President and CEO, told Talk Business & Politics the Museum will be a reality in a little more than two years with a “temporary certificate of occupancy” at the site coming sometime in “mid-summer 2019.”

“Next spring, it’s the foundation and we’ll be starting to build walls. Our expectation at this point in time is that a month before the grand opening, we’ll have a soft opening here and a ribbon cutting,” Weeks said.