Downtowns Remain Hubs for Community Identity, Business (OPINION)

Northwest Arkansas is a dynamic and thriving area that is attracting national and international notice for the quality of life it offers, its business climate and the educational opportunities available.

Our streets are filled with vehicles ferrying a growing population to work, school, retail outlets or entertainment venues.

We keep building subdivisions, apartment complexes and lifestyle centers to fulfill our needs as we create productive and rewarding lives, and, as we grow, we push out the geopolitical and physical barriers of our towns, constantly seeking the room we need.

Northwest Arkansas leaders are frequently advised to think regionally for the good of our future and I wholeheartedly applaud those efforts.

However, I hope that as we think regionally we will not neglect our individual downtowns.

Before distance and easy transportation pulled residents to the outer edges of our communities, our downtowns were where we went when we conducted business, went shopping or participated in government processes.

Sometimes, it makes good business sense to seek that cheaper land on the edges of towns to reap a better return on investment.

But a downtown square offers benefits you don’t find anywhere else.

Although we have more choices now as far as where to do business, a downtown, by definition, is still where the greatest concentration of a city’s business is conducted.

Northwest Arkansas boasts several vibrant, unique city centers that are important to residents’ way of life.

Each of its five major municipalities — Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and Siloam Springs — has an identity that can be characterized by the activity found at the historical core of the town.

And many of our smaller communities do, as well.

Bentonville’s downtown square has experienced an economic renaissance thanks to an influx of visitors from around the world to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the restaurants, art galleries and gift shops fronting the 19th century buildings around the restored square.

Fayetteville has long laid claim to Northwest Arkansas’ oldest downtown and one of its most vibrant, thanks to residents’ passion about the preservation of and investment in that city’s infrastructure.

Although recent Rogers development activity might suggest that the majority of new business is growing near the I-540 corridor, the downtown brick streets still draw people looking for retail and professional businesses, restaurants and a thriving community theater.

Siloam Springs’ respect for its past can be seen in its reconditioned downtown business district, a draw to people on both sides of the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line.

But Springdale, a city with its own rich history and unique place in Northwest Arkansas’ prosperity, may be slightly behind in reinvesting in its downtown center. The birthplace of so many great businesses is working to rediscover its economic heart.

We’ve seen the start of a great push to revitalize Springdale. Northwest Arkansas Health System recently completed a multi-million-dollar expansion and renovation. Efforts to uncover Spring Creek and make downtown Springdale a destination downtown are in the works.

Arvest Bank is proud to be a contributing member in each of these cities’ downtown areas. Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin credited Arvest with being the first business to renovate and remodel its building on the north side of the downtown square in 2000.

In Fayetteville, Arvest claimed one of the oldest bank charters still in use west of the Mississippi River when it purchased 142-year-old McIllroy Bank in 1986. Many of Rogers’ small businesses credit Arvest Bank with startup financing and use the downtown branch to do their banking business.

More than that, Arvest understands it is important to support and serve the other businesses that populate our area’s downtown main streets, whether they are called Central, Walnut, Mountain, Mount Olive, or Emma. Without vital, thriving downtown businesses, our cities become “donut communities,” cities with rings of suburban businesses surrounding a hollow core. They are empty inside.

In Springdale, Arvest Bank is celebrating its 25th year on Emma Avenue with a major interior renovation of its downtown branch. We are proud to help Springdale enhance the appearance of its downtown while we continue to help our customers pursue and reach their financial goals. We hope that our efforts will provide a small bit of momentum to Springdale’s downtown redevelopment efforts. We can’t wait to see the results. 

Lisa Ray is the chairman of the board for the Springdale Chamber of Commerce and president of Arvest Bank in Springdale. She is also a member of the Downtown Springdale Alliance and steering committee member for Ignite Springdale. She can be reached at [email protected].