Fort Smith, AR

[mcheiss]

Anyone know anything about this? Pryor, Lincoln, and Boozman were meeting with officials to try and convince them to locate a US Marshals Service museum in Ft. Smith. It would be a great addition to the city, and I think FS has a good chance because of its rich history as a military post.

Haven't heard anything on that I'm afraid.

It would be great because of the military post that Fort Smith once was and the frontier that laid beyond Fort Smith in the past.

That would be a great development in Fort Smith.

BTW, where did you hear about this?

[Mith242]

That is interesting news. Ft Smith has had an interesting history and it would be great to try to draw on that.

[Arkansawyer]

Haven't heard anything on that I'm afraid.

It would be great because of the military post that Fort Smith once was and the frontier that laid beyond Fort Smith in the past.

That would be a great development in Fort Smith.

BTW, where did you hear about this?

Here's an article about it from the Arkansas News Bureau.

This museum would fit in very well with the other attractions in Fort Smith. Hopefully Fort Smith lands it.

[Mith242]

Here's an article about it from the Arkansas News Bureau.

This museum would fit in very well with the other attractions in Fort Smith. Hopefully Fort Smith lands it.

Thanks for posting the article Arkansawyer. I never knew Ft Smith had more marshals buried there than any other location.

[mcheiss]

Thanks for posting the article Arkansawyer. I never knew Ft Smith had more marshals buried there than any other location.

I just saw the story on the news.

This would be a pretty big attraction, drawing an excess of around 100,000 visitors to start out with.

[SoMplsGuy]

I went to high school in the Fort (southside) in the late 80's and I have to say I wasn't a big fan of the place. I've since been back many times (Parents live there) and well, I'm still not a big fan of the place. They have made big strides in the downtown area which is the only part of town that I like. My only real problem with downtown is that Garrison avenue is so wide as to negate any feel of density or urbanity that the place might otherwise have. But there are many neat little resturaunts and bars and that's good because as soon as you get to the top of that hill and head towards that mall it's all over - ugly sprawl for miles. It's like a giant suburb of what - Barling? The one thing that just amazes me every time I'm back there is that unless you are downtown or on that new U of A campus is that there are no sidewalks in that town. None. My parents look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I'm walking somewhere that is a mile away. I hope this doesn't sound too negative - I'm not one to diss people's towns - but the best thing about the Fort is it's proximity to a major interstate.

[Mith242]

I went to high school in the Fort (southside) in the late 80's and I have to say I wasn't a big fan of the place. I've since been back many times (Parents live there) and well, I'm still not a big fan of the place. They have made big strides in the downtown area which is the only part of town that I like. My only real problem with downtown is that Garrison avenue is so wide as to negate any feel of density or urbanity that the place might otherwise have. But there are many neat little resturaunts and bars and that's good because as soon as you get to the top of that hill and head towards that mall it's all over - ugly sprawl for miles. It's like a giant suburb of what - Barling? The one thing that just amazes me every time I'm back there is that unless you are downtown or on that new U of A campus is that there are no sidewalks in that town. None. My parents look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I'm walking somewhere that is a mile away. I hope this doesn't sound too negative - I'm not one to diss people's towns - but the best thing about the Fort is it's proximity to a major interstate.

I can't say I know a whole lot about Ft Smith so it's interesting to hear someone's opinion of the place. I imagine other Arkansas cities have some of the same problems. There used to be big areas even in Fayetteville that didn't have any sidewalks. But I think the last 3-4 years they've been trying to put in sidewalks just about everywhere. Even College Ave, where I imagine most people would also look at you crazy if you told them you were going to walk along there.

[Aporkalypse]

I went to high school in the Fort (southside) in the late 80's and I have to say I wasn't a big fan of the place. I've since been back many times (Parents live there) and well, I'm still not a big fan of the place. They have made big strides in the downtown area which is the only part of town that I like. My only real problem with downtown is that Garrison avenue is so wide as to negate any feel of density or urbanity that the place might otherwise have. But there are many neat little resturaunts and bars and that's good because as soon as you get to the top of that hill and head towards that mall it's all over - ugly sprawl for miles. It's like a giant suburb of what - Barling? The one thing that just amazes me every time I'm back there is that unless you are downtown or on that new U of A campus is that there are no sidewalks in that town. None. My parents look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I'm walking somewhere that is a mile away. I hope this doesn't sound too negative - I'm not one to diss people's towns - but the best thing about the Fort is it's proximity to a major interstate.

Compared to most growing parts of Arkansas, I think of Ft Smith as having some older neighborhoods with some character and while having sprawl they have less than NWA and Central Arkansas's suburban counties. I never considered the sidewalk issue, I guess I never paid attention.

[Mith242]

Maybe it needs some work but I would also think Ft Smith would have some interesting old neighborhoods. It certainly has an interesting history. I think Fayetteville is pretty old by Ozarks standards but it's still not too much compared to Ft Smith's history. Would anyone say it's a bigger version of Springdale in some ways? I don't know the city too well but I thought maybe it was a bit more of a blue collar type city. I get the impression it's a bit quiet and there's not a whole lot to do in some ways despite it's size. What are other people's impressions of it?

[mcheiss]

Maybe it needs some work but I would also think Ft Smith would have some interesting old neighborhoods. It certainly has an interesting history. I think Fayetteville is pretty old by Ozarks standards but it's still not too much compared to Ft Smith's history. Would anyone say it's a bigger version of Springdale in some ways? I don't know the city too well but I thought maybe it was a bit more of a blue collar type city. I get the impression it's a bit quiet and there's not a whole lot to do in some ways despite it's size. What are other people's impressions of it?

To me it's a town with a great history with the National Cemetary, Downtown, The National Historic Site, and it's "Frontierism".

It also seems more blue collared to me.

Edited November 18, 2005 by mcheiss

[SoMplsGuy]

I know the Fort is comming along - certianly the tornado a few years ago didn't help - so I hope that one post of mine wasn't too negative. Of course, a town of it's size will have a few things going for it . Like I said, the downtown has a lot going on. I've eaten at Bella Italia (REALLY nice victorian mansion), checked out the river ampitheater and toured the Hanging Judge's court. My personal problem is that my parents live way on the other side of town among the never ending sea of parking lots and chain stores along rogers ave. So when I'm in town I don't spend as much time as I'd like in the part of town that is cool. It certianly was a tough place to go to high school - there was nothing at all to do (we'd actually hang out at the McDonnalds because there was nowhere to go). Good thing Fayettville was close by and we could go up the hill to see bands.

Oh yeah, one thing you guys in the Fort can take a lot of pride in is that new (may not be new, but it's new to me) Library. Here in Minneapolis, we're building a new library which will open next spring. The one it is replacing - the one that was downtown for 40 years - couldn't hold a candle to the Fort Smith library. I was amazed the first time I saw that thing because it dwarfed the minneapolis library at the time and we have 3 million people in this town. Impressive.

[Mith242]

I know the Fort is comming along - certianly the tornado a few years ago didn't help - so I hope that one post of mine wasn't too negative. Of course, a town of it's size will have a few things going for it . Like I said, the downtown has a lot going on. I've eaten at Bella Italia (REALLY nice victorian mansion), checked out the river ampitheater and toured the Hanging Judge's court. My personal problem is that my parents live way on the other side of town among the never ending sea of parking lots and chain stores along rogers ave. So when I'm in town I don't spend as much time as I'd like in the part of town that is cool. It certianly was a tough place to go to high school - there was nothing at all to do (we'd actually hang out at the McDonnalds because there was nowhere to go). Good thing Fayettville was close by and we could go up the hill to see bands.

Oh yeah, one thing you guys in the Fort can take a lot of pride in is that new (may not be new, but it's new to me) Library. Here in Minneapolis, we're building a new library which will open next spring. The one it is replacing - the one that was downtown for 40 years - couldn't hold a candle to the Fort Smith library. I was amazed the first time I saw that thing because it dwarfed the minneapolis library at the time and we have 3 million people in this town. Impressive.

I don't think I've heard too much about the Ft Smith library. All the news up here has been all the new or expanded libraries here in northwest Arkansas. For the matter of not much to do I guess most places in Arkansas are that way. Little Rock is big enough to have some stuff obviously and Fayetteville was lucky to be a college town all those years. I don't know when exactly but I'm hoping to head down to Ft Smith/Van Buren and take some pics in the near future. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

[mcheiss]

I've got some news on Fort Smith.

Developers are now planning on building a Target and a Belk Department Store at the intersection of near Phoenix Avenue and Interstate 540. These two stores will be in a much larger shopping center as well.

Academy Sports has also announced it is going to build a location along Phoenix Avenue.

Edited November 19, 2005 by mcheiss

[Mith242]

I've got some news on Fort Smith.

Developers are now planning on building a Target and a Belk Department Store at the intersection of near Phoenix Avenue and Interstate 540. These two stores will be in a much larger shopping center as well.

Academy Sports has also announced it is going to build a location along Phoenix Avenue.

Anyone heard how the malls are doing there? Seems like there was one that was doing pretty well but the other one was having a hard time. That was a while back ago so I was wondering if maybe one of them had closed by now.

[Mith242]

Anyone notice that Beverly has found a new buyer? Here's an article about it at Arkansas Business

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/news/artic...EE%7D&aid=42492

[Aporkalypse]

Anyone notice that Beverly has found a new buyer? Here's an article about it at Arkansas Business

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/news/artic...EE%7D&aid=42492

It's now a done deal. For now, I would think this investment group would keep the HQs in Ft Smith. The fear is that Beverly will be worth more in pieces and that would shatter the company and get rid of Ft Smith's only major company.

[Mith242]

It's now a done deal. For now, I would think this investment group would keep the HQs in Ft Smith. The fear is that Beverly will be worth more in pieces and that would shatter the company and get rid of Ft Smith's only major company.

Yeah I doubt Ft Smith can feel too confident on this. They may keep the headquarters there for now but who knows when that will change.

[mcheiss]

^That would be terrible if the buyers chose to relocate Beverly or split it up. It's one of Ft. Smith's only really big true white collar employers.

[Aporkalypse]

^That would be terrible if the buyers chose to relocate Beverly or split it up. It's one of Ft. Smith's only really big true white collar employers.

My greatest fear has always been that Wal-Mart would leave NWA or spin off or split and weaken the job base as NWA is so dependent on it. Even something as innocuous as a stock/profit scandal could hammer the local economy. Can you imagine what would happen to home prices? None of these things show any signs of happening soon and since the rumors about moving corporate HQs to Dallas just after Sam's death things have been quiet on that front and I would be surprised if their leadership would ever try it.

I've wondered for a few years if Wal-Mart would spin off Sam's, though. It's not making money and doing that would allows Wal-Mart to put itself in better position to start new stores by sending most of its debt with Sam's and put the company in better cash flow position for international and domestic expansion. It may not be possible due to distribution networks, etc, though.

[Mith242]

My greatest fear has always been that Wal-Mart would leave NWA or spin off or split and weaken the job base as NWA is so dependent on it. Even something as innocuous as a stock/profit scandal could hammer the local economy. Can you imagine what would happen to home prices? None of these things show any signs of happening soon and since the rumors about moving corporate HQs to Dallas just after Sam's death things have been quiet on that front and I would be surprised if their leadership would ever try it.

I've wondered for a few years if Wal-Mart would spin off Sam's, though. It's not making money and doing that would allows Wal-Mart to put itself in better position to start new stores by sending most of its debt with Sam's and put the company in better cash flow position for international and domestic expansion. It may not be possible due to distribution networks, etc, though.

I could be wrong but I thought Sam's had been doing a lot better this year.

[Aporkalypse]

I could be wrong but I thought Sam's had been doing a lot better this year.

A little better but still not well, it's just not in the red anymore. Costco is doing much better overall and Sam's market share has been decreasing.

[Aporkalypse]

More bad news for Ft Smith. The Whirlpool plant is closing and will lay off 730 workers when it opens a new plant in Mexico.

The manufacturing-based economy has really taken a beating in Ft Smith the last few years. With Beverly going down the better jobs in town are slipping away.

[mcheiss]

More bad news for Ft Smith. The Whirlpool plant is closing and will lay off 730 workers when it opens a new plant in Mexico.

The manufacturing-based economy has really taken a beating in Ft Smith the last few years. With Beverly going down the better jobs in town are slipping away.

Oh man.

This is terrible. Jobs keep getting lost especially with the uncertainty of Beverly.

[Mith242]

Yeah I just heard about this today too. I actually was talking to someone at work who lives in Ft Smith and asking him about how the city was down there. I really wonder if this will eventually have any effect on the Fayetteville job market. I don't think it's been mentioned here butthere's been talk before about busing people from Ft Smith to work some of the factory jobs in Fayetteville. With unemployment so low up here it's hard to keep jobs filled. But many of these people seem reluctant to move up here though. Not sure if they just don't want to uproot their families or if houses are too expensive up here for them or what. But anyway after talking to this guy he was acting like things aren't real great in Ft Smith. He said there wasn't much going on, he said most people come to northwest Arkansas to do stuff. He said if it wasn't for his job he certainly wouldn't live there. He also said when he first moved there he was also a bit excited about seeing what historical things there were to see there. He said it only took him a day to do that. Just one person's opinion but he obviously didn't think much of the city. I also had asked him about them trying to revitalize the downtown area. He said they were trying to do some things down there but there's still not much going on there either. But anyway things don't seem like they're looking too good down there. He hadn't heard about them trying to build a US Marshall's Museum down there. He also said he was really surprised they didn't try to do more with their history. Some 'old west' themed festivals and such. I'm wondering if the city is going to start becoming more of a Pine Bluff. Things may not be that bad yet but it sounds like there is a possibility. Just like Pine Bluff it sounds like Ft Smith could really use some strong leadership. That and they better start trying to do something now so they don't risk possibly becoming another Pine Bluff in another decade or so.

[Aporkalypse]

Yeah I just heard about this today too. I actually was talking to someone at work who lives in Ft Smith and asking him about how the city was down there. I really wonder if this will eventually have any effect on the Fayetteville job market. I don't think it's been mentioned here butthere's been talk before about busing people from Ft Smith to work some of the factory jobs in Fayetteville. With unemployment so low up here it's hard to keep jobs filled. But many of these people seem reluctant to move up here though. Not sure if they just don't want to uproot their families or if houses are too expensive up here for them or what. But anyway after talking to this guy he was acting like things aren't real great in Ft Smith. He said there wasn't much going on, he said most people come to northwest Arkansas to do stuff. He said if it wasn't for his job he certainly wouldn't live there. He also said when he first moved there he was also a bit excited about seeing what historical things there were to see there. He said it only took him a day to do that. Just one person's opinion but he obviously didn't think much of the city. I also had asked him about them trying to revitalize the downtown area. He said they were trying to do some things down there but there's still not much going on there either. But anyway things don't seem like they're looking too good down there. He hadn't heard about them trying to build a US Marshall's Museum down there. He also said he was really surprised they didn't try to do more with their history. Some 'old west' themed festivals and such. I'm wondering if the city is going to start becoming more of a Pine Bluff. Things may not be that bad yet but it sounds like there is a possibility. Just like Pine Bluff it sounds like Ft Smith could really use some strong leadership. That and they better start trying to do something now so they don't risk possibly becoming another Pine Bluff in another decade or so.

I think Ft Smith has been fueling NWA's growth for some time, taking a lot of its brighter college-educated 20-somethings. Things like this only push this trend along.

I saw today where 83% of new jobs created in Arkansas are in the Little Rock and Fayetteville MSAs, BTW.