BENTONVILLE -- The Walton family and downtown Bentonville business interests have offered to build a three- or four-story parking deck as part of a plan to keep Benton County's circuit courts in the downtown area.
"That's huge," Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4, said of the announcement. "That's a significant expense. I know it costs a lot to build a parking structure."
Court study
Benton County officials and hired consultants are working on plans for a courts building. The county is planning public workshops in August, September and October as part of the process of developing a recommendation by the end of the year.
Source: Staff report
Jay Allen with the Walton Family Foundation made the announcement at Thursday's meeting of the Quorum Court's Finance Committee.
Jay Allen told the committee the foundation is working with Off Street Parking District 3, established by Bentonville in 1994, and with Bentonville Revitalization Inc., another nonprofit organization established by "Walton family interests" to promote long-term improvements in downtown Bentonville. According to the letter given to the justices of the peace Thursday, the offer is contingent on the county signing a construction contract to build the courts facility downtown.
Jay Allen said the parking garage would be built by the parking district and Bentonville Revitalization Inc. on land off Northeast B Street, just east of the 21c Museum Hotel. There are some parking spaces in the area, he said, so a four-story parking garage would provide a net increase of about 300 parking spaces. He said there are no cost estimates for the structure yet.
Plans for a building to house the six circuit courts judges, their courtrooms and related offices have been discussed the past few years.
A study in January 2014 identified three sites -- two downtown and one on Southwest 14th Street near the jail. County Judge Bob Clinard favors the Southwest 14th Street location, citing the greater ease of construction in an open space, minimal disruption of the courts and other downtown activities during construction, plus room for parking and expansion.
The Public Safety Committee endorsed a downtown building project early in 2015, and the Finance Committee explored financing options for a downtown building. Work on the proposal was delayed after six circuit judges sent a letter to Clinard and the Quorum Court opposing both downtown plans as inadequate.
The Quorum Court last week approved paying consultants $178,000 to examine the locations and develop plans and cost estimates to fit those locations. The offer of the parking garage was made so the study can incorporate the offer and parking into the evaluation process.
Clinard said the offer of the parking garage is significant, but not a deciding factor on the choice of location in his mind. He also said he thought the offer should have been communicated to him in advance of the meeting.
"This is the first I've heard of it," Clinard said. "It's not been communicated to me. It's part of the process, part of the overall consideration. But a parking garage is not the end-all. We still need a design that will have a sufficient number of courtrooms and other space to sustain us for the next 50 to 60 years."
Jay Allen said the need for parking had long been known, but the proposal for the parking garage was only recently completed.
"The first part of the study identified a need for additional parking downtown," Jay Allen said. "It was only in the past few days that we finalized the proposal. We wanted to make sure it was presented tonight so it could be part of the study."
Joel Jones, justice of the peace for District 7, said the offer to build a parking garage is an important consideration as the county evaluates the different sites.
"Previously, they were going to expand the parking lot there to provide more spaces," Jones said. "This shows me they are listening to what the consultants have been saying about the need for more parking. It's a huge gesture. It's not going to be cheap to build a parking deck."
NW News on 08/05/2016
Clarification: A previous version of this story mischaracterized the Walton interests involved. The information has been clarified.