What does Texarkana Need?

[mcheiss]

Since I don't know much about Texarkana, I want to know where you guys stand as a metro. What are you guys missing down there (ex. Restaurants, movie theatres, cultural opportunities, etc).

[bigboyz05]

Since I don't know much about Texarkana, I want to know where you guys stand as a metro. What are you guys missing down there (ex. Restaurants, movie theatres, cultural opportunities, etc).

We definitely need more things to do. The city is very starved in that department. An amusement park and a wider variety of night life would be a start. There's not much to do here except go to the park or the lake. Culturally we're in a good spot right now. There's plenty pf festivals, the Perot Theatre and TRAHC which bring lots of plays and musicals here. Plus the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra is here as well. As far as restaurants I'd like to see TGIFridays, Tiffany's, CoCo's and Bamboo Garden. We only have one movie theater in a metro our size and that's a real shame. We need at least two others. We also need more higher paying jobs whether they be white or bluecollar. There are a lot of jobs in the area that offer only minimum wage or slightly higher wages. The situation is improving but it needs to do so much faster. I also wish we had something like a natural history museum. That would be cool. We used to have a zoo that was closed down. It would be nice to have one again.

[dimebag1980]

From what I hear the zoo was really nice and it was at Spring Lake Park. For those who don't know, Spring Lake Park is where the infamous 'Phanton Killer' committed his murders back in the 40s only to NEVER be caught. This is the case that inspired the movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown.

Anyway the towers near the side entrance to SpringLake Park are supposedly where the monkeys used to be, and I can picture that every time I go to that park. I can also picture the size of that park as having made a nice zoo, because it's pretty big and it's nicely wooded.

As far as movie theaters go, you want to be careful. Right now we're down to only 3 movie theaters, having lost numerous smaller theaters over the years. But they're planning to build a new one just 1 mile down the road to compete with Regal Bossier Corners 9, and that will probably be the final nail in the coffin for Bossier Corners 9, as the Regal Multiplex down on the Boardwalk has already hurt it. There's also a multiplex proposed for west Shreveport at Pines/W 70th, but I strongly suggest they use caution. Baton Rouge now has too many theaters clustered near one another and it's said that some of them may fail.

I'd recommend Texarkana, AR leaders try to lure a theater to a site along I-30 on their side of the city, as it would help to distribute moviegoers more evenly and both cities could still benefit from it. This also keeps from creating a glut by adding a third theater.