Square to draw from new bypass

Huntsville renovates downtown to tempt drivers off U.S. 412

James Cornelison of Hindsville builds a flower bed in downtown Huntsville on Wednesday as part of the town’s revitalization efforts.
James Cornelison of Hindsville builds a flower bed in downtown Huntsville on Wednesday as part of the town’s revitalization efforts.

— After the project is finished to make U.S. 412 a fourlane roadway from Springdale to Huntsville, Huntsville city and business leaders want travelers to have a reason to take a quick trip to the center of the Madison County city.

Efforts began about a year ago to spruce up the downtown square with new sidewalks, new lighting and an attractive commons. City and civic leaders are preparing for a ceremony in November to mark the completion of downtown improvements.

“The only thing that’s going to save downtown is to make it a destination that people want to go and shop at,” said Mayor Kevin Hatfield. “You have specialty shops you don’t find in malls. You have a relaxing atmosphere, and you want to showcase your 1880s buildings. You want to make it attractive.”

Civic leaders in Huntsville, including the mayor and theHuntsville Chamber of Commerce, are working ahead of the completion of the U.S. 412 bypass, expected in summer 2013. The downtown revitalization project coincides with a push for a voluntary annexation, mainly along the city’s north border.

Business suffered somewhat after the opening of a Wal-Mart a few blocks from the square in the early 1980s. But the historic square remained busy through the late 1980s, Hatfield said.

Businesses further suffered when the U.S. 412 bypass opened in the 1990s, sending thousands of vehicles that had come through Huntsville on a route north, Hatfield said. Restaurants, drive-ins and gas stations closed because fewer vehicles drove through Huntsville.

The expansion of the roadway will shorten travel time from Huntsville to Interstate 540, which creates opportunities for business develop-ment, but it also will increase the number of cars that are bypassing the city.

“We can sit back and bemoan that fact and die,” Hatfield said. “In order to get people to come to the downtown area, there’s got to be a good reason.”

The last leg of a project to widen U.S. 412 from two to four lanes from Springdale to Huntsville is scheduled for completion in late summer 2013, said David Nilles, spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. The 18-mile, $71.6 million project began in 1998 at the White River bridge in Springdale. The department has completed 13.2 miles. The last leg, Hindsville to Huntsville, is 4.9 miles.

“I have visited so many towns like Huntsville, some larger, some smaller, that are boarded up,” Hatfield said. “Boarding up a downtown area is something you can’t recover from.”

Huntsville has renamed the square Polk Square to honor the family that donated the property for the public square in 1836, Hatfield said.

The project has progressed in phases, Hatfield said. It began with replacing sidewalks around the square, which included adding hand rails and access for wheelchairs. The second phase added an antique-style lighting system around the square, a project that is nearly complete.

The third phase of improvements, which should be complete in about six weeks, involves rehabilitating a commons area in the center portion of the square, Hatfield said. That includes replacement of a 30-year-old gazebo and addition of a water feature, flag pole system and wroughtiron work.

Hatfield estimated the city has spent about $70,000 so far, though about half of the money was donated by businesses and civic clubs.

The next steps will focus on attracting more shops to the square, marketing the square and organizing quarterly events, Hatfield said.

Jack Scott, 62, remembers the square in its heyday. He moved with his family to Huntsville at age 3, and his family has owned several buildings on the square for about 50 years, he said.

“Every building was full of mostly retail businesses,” Scott said. “It was busy.”

Businesses on the square years ago included a shoe store, dime store, hardware stores, a couple of cafes, a movie theater and a couple of drug stores, he said. His parents owned a store on the square.

Scott remembers the vacancies that emerged after Wal-Mart opened, but business gradually has returned to the square, particularly with resale shops finding a niche.

“I see more stability around the square than I have in quite awhile,” Scott said.

Scott said he thinks the improvements will help attractcustomers and enhance the experience of visiting the square. He and his son own Town and Country Abstract, a title insurance company on the square.

“I hope what the city is doing will help keep in people’s minds, ‘Let’s go downtown and see what the old square islike,’” he said.

When corporate officials consider opening a business in a city, they consider the standard of living their employees will have there, said Mervin Jebaraj, researcher at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Schools, parks, streets, water and sewer services and the downtown factor into the decision making.

A boarded-up downtown sends the wrong signal, Jebaraj said.

“It doesn’t have a thriving business life,” Jebaraj said. “You don’t want to go to an area that seems down and out.”

However, a well-kept downtown demonstrates that city leaders are concerned about the long-term economic prosperity of the community. Several cities across Northwest Arkansas have concentrated on creating healthy downtowndistricts.

“It’s certainly important that Huntsville does it as well,” Jebaraj said.

The four-lane bypass stands to attract gas stations, hotels and restaurants intending to capture travelers on the north end of Huntsville, said David Pemberton, executive director of the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce. Increased business development will benefit Huntsville by boosting tax revenues that will benefit schools, pay for more fire and police protection and allow for more amenities, such as parks.

If the city does not keep up its downtown, though, those businesses will leave, resulting in the boarded up buildings and blight that have occurred in many historic downtownsacross the country, he said.

Huntsville leaders hope to make downtown as attractive as possible for both the businesses and shoppers, Pemberton said.

“It’s the heart and soul of your city,” Pemberton said. “It’s where it all started.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 06/21/2012

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