As a resident of Fayetteville, I will be going to the Washington County Courthouse this week to vote for three measures that give me a chance to direct tax dollars I’m already paying to worthwhile local projects.
Early voting starts Tuesday and continues through Friday. Election Day is Nov. 12. There will be no early voting on Nov. 11, in observance of Veterans Day.
The projects are expansion and renovation of the Walton Arts Center on Dickson Street and construction of six lighted soccer fields, three lighted baseball fields, parking and other amenities at a new park near Interstate 540 and Cato Springs Road.
The vote for the Walton Arts Center seems a no-brainer to me. It is one of Fayetteville’s premier institutions and came into existence because the University of Arkansas and city of Fayetteville believed Dickson Street was the right place for such an entertainment and arts education venue. It still is the right location.
Yes, the arts center’s leadership decided to build a new theater in Bentonville at some future point, drawn to the hometown of people who have the money it will take to get it built.
That same family helped pay for the Fayetteville theater more than 20 years ago, and I appreciateSam and Helen Walton’s donation that changed not only Fayetteville but all of Northwest Arkansas.
The Dickson Street facility is still crucial to the future. That’s why the arts center plans to raise about $16 million to be combined with Fayetteville’s $6.9 million, if voters approve, to make the Walton Arts Center a more flexible facility. It will be expanded so its small theater can be continually used for performances and events rather than backstage storage for large productions. The expansion will also create a large (up to 300 people) space for nontheatrical events, from weddings to organizational meetings and dinners.
The result will be more people fl ooding into downtown Fayetteville for more years, keeping the city’s core competitive with our sister cities up the Interstate 540 corridor.
I’m even more excited for the opportunity to support development of a new park that will eventually become a gathering place for the community, whether one isengaged in youth baseball or soccer, or interested in hiking and biking or tennis and basketball.
That’s the vision for the 200 acres on the old Cummins property. It’s a much larger vision than what can be aft orded with the question on this ballot.
But voters will get to send $3.5 million from existing hotel, motel and restaurant taxes to development of this park. Combined with $4.5 million already set aside over the years by the city, the funding will be a great start to a park Fayetteville deserves.
Fayetteville came to own the park land without cost, through negotiations with former owners who planned to develop private homes and commercial properties surrounding it. That private plan fell apart years ago, but the deal delivered the property into the city’s hands. When’s the last time you’ve heard of a growing city acquiring 200 acres to develop a park? It doesn’t happen often, and it’s a grand opportunity.
My kids are involved in youth sports, including baseball at Walker Park.
That park, built in 1949, has been home to Fayetteville’s youth baseball since the early days. Its fi elds continue to serve young boys (and girls) by making America’s past time accessible, but it has serious limitations that prevent expansion. Communities all around Fayetteville havelong ago surpassed Walker Park’s baseball oft erings, drawing money-making tournaments that help fi ll hotels and restaurants.
Fayetteville is overdue in its investment in youth baseball.
Without this park, Fayetteville’s soccer program also won’t have anywhere to go when the University of Arkansas reclaims its land on which today’s soccer program operates.
Other bond issues have helped pay for new or widened streets and a sewage treatment plant, all of which were needed infrastructure. But questions on this ballot are a rare and exciting opportunity to invest in Fayetteville’s soul, in places that lift our spirits through the arts, through athletic achievement, through connecting to the natural world around us, through places that bring individuals together into community.
When we look back in 20 years, an expanded arts center and a wonderful one-of-a-kind park will no doubt create more community connections and memories than any street or sewer plant can achieve.
Vote “for” the three questions between Tuesday and Nov. 12 to make a difterence for the future without adding any new taxes.
GREG HARTON IS OPINION PAGE EDITOR FOR NWA MEDIA.
Opinion, Pages 5 on 11/04/2013