"There's something happening here.

"What it is ain't exactly clear."

-- Buffalo Springfield

Although that mid-60s song is about a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, one could be forgiven for repeating its opening lines these days in downtown Springdale.

Recent news demonstrates a higher level of interest in downtown than one can remember in recent years. Of course, there's been difficult developments, such as the closing of a mainstay like Ryan's Clothing Store, but such departures can also open up opportunities for a needed new wave of investment and interest in downtown.

A company associated with the Walton family, called Springdale Downtown LLC, recently bought the former location of the landmark Emma Avenue store. The city also recently agreed to sell the Jeff Brown Building, part of the Springdale Poultry Industry Historic District, to Tyson Foods Inc. The old Apollo Theater is apparently also under contract for sale to someone interested in refurbishing it.

The latter two buildings have teetered close to demolition in recent months. It's unknown what the future holds for them or the new Walton family acquisition.

It is, nevertheless, great to see some interest in the downtown area, and one can only assume it fits in with the thinking behind Springdale's downtown redevelopment plans and the construction of the Razorback Greenway, a 36-mile pedestrian and biking trail weaving through the region from Bentonville to Fayetteville. It will cross through downtown Springdale. That project is, also, tied to the Walton family. The Walton Family Foundation provided $15 million for development of the trail, which will also benefit from funding via the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant.

It's almost a year now since the Springdale City Council adopted a downtown revitalization plan, helping to establish the push to restore the city's core. At the center of that effort is the opening of Spring Creek, now largely under concrete, and development of a park around the water feature and near Shiloh Square.

It's no coincidence downtowns are seeing a higher level of activity. The private Northwest Arkansas Council, a group directed by many of the region's wealthy or influential movers and shakers, has an established goal of promoting redevelopment of downtowns in Springdale, Rogers and Siloam Springs to match the level of activity in the downtown areas of Fayetteville and Bentonville. It's a tall order, unless someone's planning to open a multimillion museum, arts center or other major amenity in these other towns. But with renewed concentration on solutions, who knows what the possibilities are?

Northwest Arkansas can grow and grow, but if the very hearts of those communities are left to deteriorate, it will poison all other efforts to keep the region vibrant. Springdale's downtown is perhaps the most clear example of a community struggling to find a reason for downtown to exist.

Springdale's downtown needs the investment and, one could certainly argue, has farther to go to regain its place as a destination. What's beginning there could be the best thing to happen to the area in years.

Hopefully all the attention on downtown areas will encourage new investment and new ideas so that one day, people living in all of Northwest Arkansas' communities can say "Stop, children, what's that sound? Could it be coming from our downtown?"