$12M Project Planned for Train Depot

Two companies plan to spend $12 million to renovate the Fayetteville train depot and build a three-story, 40,000-SF building next door on the northwest corner of Dickson and West streets.

The proposed complex would include a Mediterranean restaurant, six-screen movie theater and Smithsonian Institution affiliate museum.

But it all hinges on parking in the city’s Dickson Street entertainment district.

“If we don’t solve the parking problem, I won’t get a building permit,” said Eric Parkinson, CEO of Hannover House, a video distribution company that supplies Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville as well as other companies.

The development would be a joint venture between Hannover House and Pioneer Group of Topeka, Kan. Ross Freeman is the main person at Pioneer Group who is involved with the project.

The depot is currently owned by a four-person corporation that includes John Lewis, president of the Bank of Fayetteville. Lewis is chairman of the Fayetteville Heritage Committee, which has a long-range goal of starting a museum for the city.

The construction would displace about 100 parking spaces in a lot between the depot and the Bank of Fayetteville’s train bank, which is on the northwest corner of the intersection of Dickson and West streets. The train bank might have to close or be moved, Lewis said.

“We’ll do whatever is necessary for the good of the city,” he said.

On the southwest corner of that same intersection, the city has a parking lot with 210 spaces. Parkinson said he has talked to the city about jointly financing a three-level parking garage on that lot to accommodate about 700 vehicles. That construction could cost from $7 million to $9 million.

Fayetteville officials are studying the idea, and Parkinson hopes it will go before the City Council soon.

The 4,500-SF depot would be converted into a ticket booth for the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad and a restaurant.

Parkinson said a Los Angeles restaurateur is interested in opening a restaurant in the building. Its Mediterranean cuisine would include Middle Eastern, Greek, southern Italian and southern French.

The renovation would also include two other buildings in the same area. One is a warehouse that would serve as an office building for Hannover House. The other is a small building that was constructed in 1912 as Waters Pierce Oil Co. That building, which fronts West Avenue, was designed by Charles Thompson, Arkansas’ most prominent architect in the early 20th century. Lewis said he wasn’t sure when the depot was built, but it was renovated in 1928.

Treanor Architects of Kansas City will design the project, with Steve Malin serving as the lead architect.

The Smithsonian has more than 90 affiliate museums across America. The Mid America Science Museum in Hot Springs is the nearest Smithsonian affiliate museum to Fayetteville.

Jose Revamps Bar, Opens Streetside

Joe Fennel, owner of Jose Inc., has spent $100,000 to remodel his 7,000-SF restaurant on Fayetteville’s Dickson Street. The remodeling increased the size of the bar from 850 to 1,500 SF and moved it next to Streetside, the sidewalk cafe outside Jose’s Mexican Restaurant.

Fennel also has built a deck that will seat 80 at Streetside, and he plans to open the outside eatery on warmer days during the winter.

Fennel opened Streetside on April 8 for the warm-weather season. Jose’s is serving a full menu at Streetside during lunch and a limited menu for dinner nightly.

With the change, Jose’s has become a nonsmoking restaurant, but smoking is allowed in the bar and at Streetside.