ACME brick yard planning part of Fort Smith Board study session

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by Tina Alvey Dale ([email protected]) ago 0 views 

Discussion of the former ACME brick yard and what the property – more than 110 acres – could bring to the City of Fort Smith is again on the agenda of the Fort Smith Board of Directors study session set for Tuesday (Jan. 14).

The Board of Directors approved the purchase of 111.31 acres formerly utilized by ACME Brick Company in October 2023. The property was purchased in order to address the impact of flash flooding through the use of both parcels, a memo from Stan Snodgrass, director of engineering, on the matter.

“During discussions regarding the purchase of the property, members of the Board expressed their desire to also use the property as a venue for unique park amenities that will complement the detention and/or retention ponds. The goal of such development is to make this property a premier destination in the center of Fort Smith that provides active and passive recreation amenities for citizens,” the memo said.

The project will be a coordinated effort across multiple city departments in order to ensure the property is developed to best serve the citizens and align with the goals of the board of directors, the memo noted.

The Board on Oct. 8 voted against an agreement with RDG Planning & Design, Inc. of Des Moines, Iowa, to complete a master plan for the property because they were concerned it would delay the flood mitigation portion of the project. The board also discussed the importance of identifying some of the property in the 111.31 acres that could be sold for residential, commercial or retail development.

Since then, city administration has formed an internal committee to help develop the project. Committee members include Jeff Dingman, interim city administrator; Maggie Rice, deputy city administrator, planning & special projects; Stan Snodgrass, director of engineering; Matt Meeker, director of streets and traffic control; and Sara Deuster, director of parks and recreation.

The Engineering and Streets and Traffic Control Departments selected Halff Associates, Inc. as the engineer for the storm water mitigation portion of this project. RDG Planning and Design has been selected to perform the park master planning component.

The purpose of Tuesday’s discussion is to provide the board with information regarding how flood mitigation and future park development must be a collaborative, unified effort to ensure the best use of the property, Snodgrass said in his memo.