Remembering Rogers H. Collins Haynes and Historic Downtown Rogers

By JAMES HALES

Posted: July 29, 2009 at 5:10 a.m.

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LITTLE ROCK — H. Collins Haynes is an architect and developer who came to Rogers in 1980 from Memphis, and since then has done more to restore the historic buildings in downtown Rogers than any other person. His first big project downtown was the Progressive Life building at the corner of Poplar and Second streets. This magnificent building with its massive columns was designed by noted Rogers'architect, A.O. Clarke, and built in 1914. In 1982, the building was vacant except for a thrift store in the basement.

Haynes, with his partners, restored the building, opened The Plaza Restaurant in the basement and leased the upper two floors to Patchwork Emporium, Golden's Jewelry and other businesses.

The next project downtown that grabbed Haynes'attention were the buildings from 210-224 S. First Street. These storefront buildings had been vacant for many years before the Harris Bakery acquired them in the 1970s and expanded into them. In 1993, the cooperative that owned Harris Bakery built a new ultra-modern bakery at 2301 S. First Street and moved out of downtown. This move left all of the buildings vacant from the bakery offices on Elm Street east to the corner of First Street and south to the building occupied by Ruth Davis's Favorite Tuxedos and Patti Herz's PHI Designs. In order to acquire any of the buildings, Collins Haynes and his partner, David Bogle, had to buy all of the Harrisproperty, including the large building at the corner of Elm and First streets. The Harris Bakery built this concrete and steel building about 1961 for their bread-wrapping department. Haynes sold the bread-wrapping building and bought his partner's interest in the venture. This left Haynes owning the original Harris Bakery building on Elm and a substantial portion of the real estate on First Street between Elm and Poplar streets.

When Earl Harris built his new bakery in 1936 at 114 W. Elm, it was described as the most beautiful bakery in America. It is the only building with art deco design in downtown Rogers, and one of the very few in the state. The front exterior is virtually the same as when new, and as soon as the old bakery equipment was removed in 1992, Haynes remodeled the interior and leased it to the S.C. Johnson Wax Company.

The building at 202-216 S.

First Street was built in 1888, and by 1992, it was badly deteriorated. It consisted of three storefronts with one large room above the stores. The room upstairs had at some time in previous years been a skating rink and had a hardwoodfloor scarred from the skates. (Can you imagine trying to operate a business with a noisy skating rink over your head?) Haynes restored and renovated the building being careful to retain the original front.

He constructed offices upstairs and filled the building with upscale tenants.

The building at 218-220 S.

First Street was a livery stable built in 1890. If you study the brickwork on the front, you can still see the words "livery stable" faintly visible. Collins Haynes restored this historic building, and it is today the home of the Iron Horse Coffee Shop and Interior Visions Design.

About 1994, the S.C. Johnson Wax Company outgrew the old art deco bakery building on Elm Street and needed more space.

Haynes agreed to build them a new four-story building on the vacant lot just south of the Iron Horse Coffee Shop. This lot had been covered over with asphalt by the Harris Bakery and used to park their bread trucks. The building that previously occupied the spot had been built in 1905 as a livery stable, but also housed a feed store, Rogers'first auto company and a music store. It was a grocery store and food locker when it burned in a disastrous fire in 1963. When the excavation was started for the new building, the workers found charred rubble five feet deep filled with horse tack, bits of leather, horseshoes, and all kinds of steel bits and hardware from bridles and horse equipment.

Since it was in the historic district, the new four-story building had to comply with the guidelines of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. It had to be set back from the street so that it did not detract from the historic buildings on the street, and it had to have a contrasting design so that it would not be confused with the historic buildings.

Another building that he restored in the mid 1990s was the large two-story block building at 117 E. Walnut. It was built by Benton County Hardware in 1912. After Benton County Hardwarewent bankrupt in 1933, it was occupied by the J.O. Rand Wholesale Grocery until 1964. Collins Haynes restored the building and leased it in 1994 for the Emerald Coast Bistro and Expresso Bar. He sold the building in 2004.

Collins Haynes has won many awards for his restoration work in downtown Rogers. He points out that none of these projects would have been possible without the tax incentive programs available from the federal government for the restoration of historic buildings.

Recently, H. Collins Haynes has moved his architectural firm,

Haynes Limited, into the historic old Harris Bakery at 114 W. Elm Street. The exterior has been repainted by local craftsman, David Davis, just like it was in 1936.

(Data from an interview with H.

Collins Haynes, July 21, 2009, and from books by James F.

Hales)

James Hales is a retired homebuilder and historian who has written two books about the history of Rogers. His latest book, The Fabulous 1960s in Rogers, Arkansas, chronicles the exciting changes that occurred in the decade of the 1960s.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 07/29/2009

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