PINE BLUFF -- Trudy Jones smiled one afternoon last week as she watched workers clearing debris from two downtown Pine Bluff buildings that have sat collapsed for months.
Jones, who lives in rural Jefferson County, said she has been thinking of opening a business in downtown for several years but has been concerned because of the unsightly debris piles.
The area of Main Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues, where the buildings sit, was blocked off after the former Band Museum building and a former VFW post collapsed on Feb. 21. Two other buildings on either side of them, which once housed Kahn jewelers and Mid-South Music, are in the early stages of collapsing and must be torn down, according to city engineers.
Danny Bradshaw, the owner of Mr. Brick Antique Brick Buy and Sell, has purchased the above properties with plans to tear them down and resell the bricks and other usable items. He and his salvage team are currently working to clear the sites.
The area is full of vacant structures, with just a half-dozen or so shops further south and north of the site. The main draw downtown is the headquarters of Simmons First National Bank, which employs hundreds of workers in the city.
Bradshaw has deferred questions about his cleanup project to Dee Herring-Gatlin, chairman of the Pine Bluff Historical Commission and a real estate broker who is working closely with Bradshaw on the project.
Gatlin said Bradshaw is salvaging the bricks, while she is salvaging wooden beams, doors, windows, hand-hewn lumber and roofing tresses. Gatlin said the materials will be sold to people interested in buying antique materials to incorporate into their homes.
Gatlin hopes that workers can have the site completely cleared by early fall, so that Main Street can reopen.
The practice of selling salvaged materials for use in new construction isn't new but is gaining popularity across the nation.
Tennessee contractor Connie Gale, who has worked with the home improvement television show This Old House, said that using salvaged construction materials is a "win-win. You get a great look incorporating used wood into new homes or a remodel. I was just at a very expensive new home site under construction where wood beams that were over 100 years old were used to create interest."
City inspectors and local architects have said there is no one reason why so many buildings in downtown Pine Bluff have fallen over the past few years.
Pine Bluff architect Dave Sadler said many downtown buildings weren't constructed with the best materials and that a lack of maintenance over the years is behind the recent collapses.
"If you don't shore these old buildings up properly and maintain them, they just won't survive over time," Sadler said.
Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth said that some building owners have neglected to maintain their properties, contributing to the fragility of downtown structures.
Also on Main Street, the fate of the partially collapsed Shriner's building is hung up in a legal struggle.
The building's owner, Garland Trice, has told city officials that he plans to restore the building, which partially collapsed on July 25, 2014.
But there have been no signs of such work being done.
After failed attempts to get Trice to clean up or repair his property, the city cited him earlier this year with a violation of the city's building and property ordinance. A court date has not been set.
Trice said he felt bullied by the city, which he said hasn't afforded him enough time to work on his building.
As for Jones and her hopes of opening a new business downtown, she said she's pleased with the recent progress.
"It's a good thing to see things being cleaned up, but there is a long way to go," Jones said.
"I hope to one day be a part of the downtown community. I'd like to see downtown Pine Bluff thriving again. It would be fantastic."
State Desk on 08/17/2015