New CBID chair wants to continue to ‘intensify’ focus on downtown Fort Smith
(from left) Former Central Business Improvement District (CBID) Chair Bill Hanna and CBID Chair Matthew Holland talk during Tuesday’s (Jan. 15) CBID meeting.
Matthew Holland said the Central Business Improvement District (CBID) has “an array of projects” on a list of strategic ideas to improve downtown Fort Smith, and he is confident the organization can make progress on those in the next few years.
Holland, the successor manager at Belle Pointe Beverages, recently was named CBID chair, succeeding Bill Hanna, president, CEO and board chair of Fort Smith-based Hanna Oil & Gas. Hanna remains on the CBID commission, with all commissioners having or managing property in the downtown.
The CBID, a semiautonomous governing body, has in recent years become more active in efforts to enhance downtown Fort Smith and work with groups engaged in promoting and developing the downtown area. Part of that work included seeking consensus from downtown property owners to assess property to support CBID efforts.
The Fort Smith Board of Directors approved an ordinance in November 2022 that allowed the CBID to levy a supplemental annual assessment of up to 10 mils on real property within the CBID boundaries – primarily in downtown Fort Smith. The assessment began in 2023 at 8 mils, and generates around $300,000 a year.
In 2024, the CBID approved a list of 12 downtown improvement projects as part of a strategic action plan. With community and CBID input, Fort Smith-based MAHG Architecture developed the action plan. The guiding principles of the plan are to connect downtown to the riverfront, create downtown gathering spaces, improve traffic flow and parking, activate sidewalks and alleys, make downtown more pedestrian friendly, and improve vibrancy by increasing business hours. (Link here for a PDF of the complete strategic plan.)
Holland, on the commission since 2020, said he is proud to be part of helping improve the downtown.
“The goals that I have personally is to be part of something that is a blank canvas and leave our mark,” Holland said after Tuesday’s (Jan. 15) CBID meeting. “A lot of people consider the downtown to be the heartbeat of cities, and that is something we intensify our focus on here.”
He said the CBID has “an array of projects” to consider, but he is hoping to push more on the Cisterna Plaza plan, which was projected in 2024 to cost $899,263. The project would include closing a short transit street and creating a green space with trees that would build upon the Darby statue and other open space in the Garrison Avenue area between 10th and 11th streets.
“And we have some visuals that would bring in mature trees and some red brick, and really create let’s say a vendor row if you wanted to have an event there,” Holland said. “That would really draw in that Cisterna Park and create a green space. There is a lot of action going on at that end of the avenue. I think it would be really neat to have a green space that is actually on Garrison (Avenue).”
Holland said he wants to build upon efforts to make the CBID more known and continue to gather input from stakeholders in the district.
“All of us (commissioners) are stakeholders here,” Holland said. “All of us invest our money and our time into the area, and that’s why we are passionate about serving on this commission.”
Hanna said he is happy Holland was willing to step up into CBID leadership, noting that “we need to get younger people engaged and get their energy and get their buy-in.”
He said notable CBID achievements, whether directly or in support of other groups, in recent years include the bike skate park, the splash pad, ongoing efforts to improve landscaping and appearance of the downtown, the downtown ambassador program, and obtaining the assessment.
In addition to addressing goals in the 2024 plan, Hanna said a challenge will be to ensure they make good decisions with funds generated from the assessment.
“What we do with the money, and how we do that in a way that makes the property owners satisfied and happy, is yet to be seen, maybe,” Hanna said. “But I think we’re good stewards of their money, I hope we are, and it’s important that we are.”