Could this be the time it works out?
That’s the first question that crossed our mind with news that the Old Post Oft ce, the venerable structure at the center of Fayetteville’s square, again has a potential buyer.
For years, back before Facebook, email and text messaging, the Old Post Oftce was a vital centerthat drew everyone’s attention to the square.
Since the late 1970s, when its use as a postal center had passed, it’s been privately owned by the Bumpass family.
Its place at the center of the public square continues to maintain the public’s interest in what happens there, but a series of restaurants and other ventures have failed to thrive. It has been essentially empty since the last tenant, Urban Table Bar and Grill, closed in 2009.
The Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission’s interest in the structure last year brought high hopes the building might once again come into public ownership, with some sensing that would be the arrangement most befitting a structure founded in public service. The commission and the Bumpass family could never come to terms.
The most recent news is Jim Huson, owner of Doe’s Eat Place on Dickson Street and another location in Bentonville, has reached an agreement in principal to buy the building. Future uses remain vague, with Huson explaining the upstairs portion might become two apartments while the bottom floor could be a restaurant or retail space.
Whatever it is, if the sale goes through, it will have to be a venture that can withstand the activities of the square - some see them as attractions, others as distractions. Regardless, the unique location is both a pro and a con, depending on one’s perspective.
We’re convinced the Old Post Oft ce hasn’t delivered its last gift to Fayetteville, that the muchloved structure can be home to a modern use, but it will take a creative force to make it work.
We hope this deal is the sign of good things ahead.
EVENT SHOWS DOWNTOWN’S PROMISE Downtown Rogers recently acknowledged it was older than 21 and celebrated with beer and boiled shrimp.
It was the first Main Street Rogers beer garden, drawing a bigger crowd to the first 3rd Friday event of the season than last year’s aff air.
“This is great to be able to have a beer outside and socialize,” said Bob Webb, speaking to a reporter between sips as he sat a table with friends.
“Downtown needed a little lift and I think this is it.”
It won’t be confused with street-side cafes in Paris.
Arkansas’ ever-peculiar alcohol restrictions put the festivities behind a 10-foot chain-link fence on a rather toasty asphalt parking lot. But nobody seemed to care too much about the ambiance. With the beer and shrimp, it felt like a little bit of Louisiana had come to Rogers. The many smiles gave a clear sign of good times and a frothy hope that a new age is opening for downtown.
Nobody will suggest a little sudsy refreshment is the foundation of a downtown revival, but the fact such an event can take place contributes one more attribute of a vibrant area of town. Its presence won’t solve every challenge for the area, but its absence was an obvious shortcoming for an area that wants to thrive.
Downtowns these days take a great deal of work.
Rogers appears headed in the right direction to ensure theirs doesn’t become a forgotten remnant of the past.
“Downtown is changing. Most of our buildings are full and there is more to do downtown. I believe once people visit downtown and see what we have to off er they will come back,” said Kerry Jensen, executive director of Main Street.
Good news, indeed. Now where’s the shrimp?
Opinion, Pages 5 on 05/24/2013