ROGERS -- Gateway Planning officials are starting with the past in order to move the downtown district into the 21st century.
"It's helpful to know the past, where the town came from, so we know how to build on the future," Rob Parsons, a Gateway Planning associate, said Thursday.
At A Glance
Downtown Rogers
The $450,000 Gateway Planning study designed to revitalize downtown Rogers is expected to take a year to complete. Public meetings are scheduled April 29 and 30. Residents will be placed in homogeneous groups, people who have similar backgrounds or interests, to help plan the renovation project. Each group will meet for 90 minutes. The groups include:
• Local and regional restaurateurs
• Downtown land owners
• Downtown business owners
• Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce and Northwest Arkansas Council leadership
• Tourism, industrial, museum and historical society representatives
• College students, teens and “20-somethings”
• Trails, parks and Lake Atalanta representatives
• Secondary and higher education representatives
• Adjacent neighborhood representatives.
Source: Staff Report
Gateway officials were in town meeting with Rogers Historical Museum officials, city planners and some residents.
"We are pulling information together to develop a base-point for us to begin the revitalization of downtown project," Parsons said.
John Burroughs, director of the museum, said he was pleased to be included in the conversation about downtown.
"We talked about our expansion plans for the museum and gave them a local history lesson," Burroughs said.
The beginning of Rogers, the development of downtown and how the city changed from a railroad stop to a retail magnet for Northwest Arkansas was laid out for Gateway representatives.
"They are interested in authenticity of the city and how to maintain that," Burroughs said. "They said they wanted to be well-grounded in the history of the city to help move the downtown area forward."
Ed Spivey, senior project manager for Gateway, has some inside information on Rogers because he lived in the city.
"We are in the process of gathering information so we can develop our strategy for future development of downtown. We are looking at streetscapes and zoning issues," Spivey said.
"We are seeing where the gaps are," Parsons said.
Spivey and Parsons also wanted to check the progress on the old opera house and former shoe store at the intersection of Walnut and First streets. John Mack, owner of JKJ Architects, is restoring the opera house. The street level will have retail space with apartments possible on the third floor of the building.
The pair also planned to meet with Gary Townzen whose barber shop on First Street has been handed down from his grandfather to his father to him.
"He also knows a lot about Rogers history," Spivey said.
Gateway officials are scheduled, later this month, to begin meetings with residents.
Planning officials have pulled together names of people in various fields to participate in meetings April 29 and 30.
"We have allotted about an hour and a half for each meeting," said Steve Glass, city director of planning and transportation.
"The stakeholder meetings will give us a good sense of what people expect, what they want and what's most important to make the revitalization project a success," Spivey said.
NW News on 04/11/2014