Sprindale Asks Public for Input on Downtown Development
By: Kyle Leyenberger
Updated: January 17, 2013
Downtown Springdale could see some serious changes if a proposed master plan moves forward.
Designers presented three options Wednesday, asking for public feedback.
Alta/Greenways President Chuck Flink wants to uncover the creek that runs through downtown Springdale and turn it into a walkable area full of stores and restaurants.
"It's a great community, it's a very culturally diverse community," he says. "We're interested in having folks come out and see what the future of the downtown could be."
Planning Director Patsy Christie says the downtown leaves something to be desired.
"It has suffered from development going out to the interstate," she says. "Some of the buildings are older, we're seeing a little bit of infill, but not a lot."
Christie wants to change that, and with the federally funded Razorback Greenway running right through the historic downtown, she says now is the time.
"That money has been laid in our lap," she says. "It's a development that can be a stimulus for downtown and you don't get that kind of opportunity very often."
The designers want to uncover Spring Creek, recreating Shiloh square as the heart of the city.
"It's in a concrete pipe. and our proposal is to remove that concrete structure," Flink says. "Emma has been the historic street in Springdale for ever and ever and ever, and now we're introducing unveiling the creek and making that a sort of perpendicular feature, reorienting the downtown to that creek... That I think will breathe a lot of life into the downtown."
Christie believes Spring Creek offers a golden opportunity to turn the downtown around.
"We have a lot of features to offer to bring people downtown, we just need to showcase them better," she says. "A strong city has to have a strong downtown."
Springdale's portion of the greenway is expected to be complete by the end of this year, and residents will have to wait and see how the downtown develops after that, Christie says.
Designers presented three options Wednesday, asking for public feedback.
Alta/Greenways President Chuck Flink wants to uncover the creek that runs through downtown Springdale and turn it into a walkable area full of stores and restaurants.
"It's a great community, it's a very culturally diverse community," he says. "We're interested in having folks come out and see what the future of the downtown could be."
Planning Director Patsy Christie says the downtown leaves something to be desired.
"It has suffered from development going out to the interstate," she says. "Some of the buildings are older, we're seeing a little bit of infill, but not a lot."
Christie wants to change that, and with the federally funded Razorback Greenway running right through the historic downtown, she says now is the time.
"That money has been laid in our lap," she says. "It's a development that can be a stimulus for downtown and you don't get that kind of opportunity very often."
The designers want to uncover Spring Creek, recreating Shiloh square as the heart of the city.
"It's in a concrete pipe. and our proposal is to remove that concrete structure," Flink says. "Emma has been the historic street in Springdale for ever and ever and ever, and now we're introducing unveiling the creek and making that a sort of perpendicular feature, reorienting the downtown to that creek... That I think will breathe a lot of life into the downtown."
Christie believes Spring Creek offers a golden opportunity to turn the downtown around.
"We have a lot of features to offer to bring people downtown, we just need to showcase them better," she says. "A strong city has to have a strong downtown."
Springdale's portion of the greenway is expected to be complete by the end of this year, and residents will have to wait and see how the downtown develops after that, Christie says.
