Lowell leaders seek to fill two key business spaces at busy intersection

LOWELL -- Two corners sit vacant at the town's busiest intersection -- the crossing of Bloomington Street with Monroe Avenue -- and city leaders want that to change.

Kris Sullivan, city planning director, said filling the vacancies at 105 N. Bloomington and 104 S. Bloomington is a priority.

"I don't like those two corners empty," Sullivan said. "It's very important we get them filled. It's a huge intersection there."

The intersection is a half-mile east of Interstate 49's Exit 78. Mayor Eldon Long called it one of the busiest interchanges on the I-49 corridor, adding that about 75,000 vehicles cross the interchange daily.

The 104 S. Bloomington location has been vacant for five years. A Kum & Go located there closed and moved across the street. The building has been razed and the bare lot sports "For Lease" signs. Thomas Brown Jr. of Fort Smith owns the property. He couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

The E-Z Mart catty-corner from the former Kum & Go site closed about a month ago and city leaders are courting companies to bring their business to that space at 105 N. Bloomington St.

E-Z Mart owns that property. Mike Ingram with E-Z Mart's real estate division didn't return a message seeking comment Friday.

Any number of services could fill those spaces, Sullivan said.

"I think there could be delivery services, flower shops, restaurants, dry cleaners would be great, especially delivery services that wouldn't require a lot of traffic," she said.

Long suggests a floor shop or hair stylist would be a good fit for the two locations.

"There's a lot of things that will fit there, but the right opportunity hasn't come for those small spots," he said.

The owners of The Spotted Goat, sitting snugly off Bloomington Street on East Monroe Avenue behind the former E-Z Mart, hope city leaders will look outside the box.

"I want the city to buy that (E-Z Mart) space and make it into a parking lot and let the community use it as a farmer's market," said Tammy Smithson, Spotted Goat co-owner. "Here you have a major intersection, so people could bring their farm fresh goods."

"And that way it supports your local farmers," added Rick Smithson, co-owner and Tammy's husband. "Being out of the box is good thing."

Fast-food chain Wendy's was thinking out of the box a few years ago with plans to open a small prototype restaurant at the Kum & Go site. The burger chain dropped the lease with the property owner because patrons would not be able to turn left out of the parking lot onto Bloomington, Long said.

"You can only turn right when exiting to the north. If exiting to the east, you again would have to go with the flow of traffic to the right," Long said, adding that the multiple lanes makes it hard for drivers to see. "Too many accidents have occurred because of people trying to turn left across multiple lanes of traffic."

Sullivan isn't daunted about filling those two spaces.

"My department is reaching out to many businesses we would like to see there," she said. "There's lots of developers reaching out."

Although property owners usually court potential buyers, the city is glad to help by sending prospective businesses packets showing demographic information, traffic counts and other city information, Sullivan said.

Lowell leaders want Bloomington to become a service hub for motorists heading from Washington County to Benton County and vice versa.

"People are realizing the connectivity that Lowell provides with easy I-49 access," Long said. "We're positioned ideally for the transfer of distribution of goods and services in the area."

Rick Smithson said he opened The Spotted three years ago in that location because he saw its potential.

"It was right in the middle of Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville, and we wanted to catch traffic from both directions," he said.

NW News on 09/02/2017