This is one way to look at the recently signed agreement between the University of Arkansas and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism: In 2020, the Arkansas Razorbacks will miss playing a football game in Little Rock for the first time in decades.
There's another way, though, of viewing the agreement, which will bring Razorback games against the University of Missouri to War Memorial Stadium in 2019, 2021 and 2023: It's a win for the capital city, and Little Rock needed a high-profile victory at a time when many Arkansans view the city as stagnant.
The conventional wisdom was that this year's game between Arkansas and the University of Mississippi would mark the end of Razorback football in Little Rock. The Oct. 13 game against Ole Miss completes the previous contract between the university and the stadium. Arkansas has played at War Memorial Stadium every year since the facility opened in 1948. This will mark the 71st consecutive season for at least one Hog game to be played there.
Had the decision been left to former athletic director Jeff Long, there's little doubt that Razorback football in Little Rock would have become a thing of the past. But Gov. Asa Hutchinson felt otherwise, as did a majority of the members of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. UA's new athletic director Hunter Yurachek didn't get to where he is now by being tone deaf. Neither did Joe Steinmetz, chancellor of the Fayetteville campus.
"A big part of our mission as a university is to make lives better for Arkansans," Steinmetz said at the time of the May announcement. "That means a lot of things, including recruiting students from every part of our state, providing transformational opportunities, solving problems through research and discovery and contributing services through collaboration. But it also means engaging the entire state. The Arkansas Razorbacks ... will always be a big part of that engagement."
Yurachek said he "listened to many passionate Razorbacks from every corner of our state and beyond. While those conversations provided varying perspectives, they collectively reaffirmed my belief that this state is unified in our desire to see the Razorback program succeed."
A study completed for the state in March by Conventions, Sports & Leisure International stated that about $17 million in upgrades will be required at War Memorial Stadium. Turf replacement is already scheduled for 2019. Kane Webb, director of the Department of Parks and Tourism, assures me that state government will be creative in finding sources of revenue for the other improvements.
If War Memorial Stadium does a good job hosting this year's Ole Miss game and the three games against Missouri, the chances are excellent for annual Razorback games to return to Little Rock once this contract expires. The contract for Arkansas to play Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas, each season will have ended by then, giving the UA more scheduling flexibility.
So let's leave it at this: This was a win for Little Rock in the eyes of most Arkansans. How does the city build on the momentum? That's the question that the candidates for mayor should be asking themselves daily. As the first new mayor in a dozen years, the winner of November's election has an opportunity to outline a vision for the city and then unite various factions in an effort to achieve common goals. As I've stated countless times in recent columns, it's important to Arkansans in all 75 counties that the state's largest city have a vibrant economy.
These should be the priorities of the new mayor:
• Public safety: The biggest mistake made by city leaders in decades was allowing dozens of Little Rock Police Department vacancies to go unfilled. The city has taken steps in the past month to correct the problem. The new mayor must be the watchdog for the public, ensuring that this mistake isn't repeated.
The mayor should work with the police chief to provide an increased law enforcement presence downtown, especially at night and on weekends. That will send a strong signal to visitors, helping them to feel safe and then say positive things about Little Rock when they return home.
The mayor also should work with downtown business owners, encouraging them to fully fund the ambassadors program that's sponsored by the Downtown Little Rock Partnership. These ambassadors are paid employees who walk the streets downtown, aiding not only visitors but those who live and work in the neighborhood. There must be more of them. The continued revitalization of downtown is paramount to Little Rock's growth.
• Infill development: The future of Little Rock rests on the renewal of established neighborhoods, not on continued westward sprawl. The new mayor can use the bully pulpit at City Hall to rally support around the concept of infill development while also encouraging commercial and residential developers to invest.
In addition to continued downtown redevelopment, neighborhoods near the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock are prime candidates for renewal.
• City in a park: For a time, Little Rock promoted itself as the "city in a park." The new mayor can help make that a reality with an intense focus on parks and trails, especially the transformation of War Memorial Park into a true Central Park that will attract people on a daily basis to walk, ride bikes, fish and take part in other recreational activities.
Little Rock also needs a first-class venue for youth basketball and volleyball tournaments. The mayor can work closely with the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau to achieve that goal.
• The next big thing: Using the bully pulpit once more, the new mayor can be the leading voice for whatever Little Rock residents decide should be the next big thing to spur growth. In the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century, I happen to believe that should be a concerted effort to take UAMS and UALR to the next level, making Little Rock more of a college town in the process.
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Rex Nelson is a senior editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Editorial on 07/01/2018