Making Your Town Grow Again

                    ARKANSAS

                            BY

                          RICHARD MASON

    

Making Your Town Grow Again

According to Seattle, Washington Destination Expert, Roger Brooks, there are some 60,000 small to medium size towns in the United States that are currently slowly losing population, or have become stagnant as far as growth in population is concerned. The root cause of no growth or a steady loss in population is, according to Mr. Brooks, because these towns don’t have the amenities that larger towns and cities have. The upward-mobile, educated workers who are so critical to population growth are voting with their feet to live in cities and towns that offer the quality of life amenities they want. It’s actually a very simple proposition to consider, and if we look at towns and cities around the country, you can easily prove the point.  The growing towns boast good restaurants, entertainment, and a variety of other amenities that add to their resident’s quality of life. In other words, they are a destination. These towns are growing simply because they are where people want to live.  

The reasons for stagnant growth in most town are very simple; the young, mobile job seekers and job creators want more than workers, an industrial park, and low wages. So where do they find what they want? Of course, they move to metropolitan areas like northwest Arkansas or large cities that offer good restaurants, entertainment, and other quality of life items.

About five years ago, Mr. Brooks spoke to a group of business leaders in El Dorado about the lack of population growth in El Dorado, and after this visit he was asked to return and make detailed recommendations as to how El Dorado could turn around its loss of population. He studied El Dorado for almost a year before he made his recommendations.

When Mr. Brooks returned to town he had a stated goal, which was to make El Dorado a destination. In other words: What can we do to make  El Dorado a place where people will visit, spend money, where businesses will boom, restaurants will open, and folks will start moving to El Dorado. The crux of Mr. Brook’s presentation is that El Dorado should become an entertainment destination to create amenities that will attract thousands of visitors a year, small business owners who will open businesses, and El Dorado grow again. His stated goal is to make El Dorado, The Festival City of the South, by doing the projects noted below:

Phase One---now under construction. This initial piece of the of the Murphy Arts District will include an 8000 capacity amphitheater, a 2200 seat indoor theater call the Griffin Auditorium, a fine dining restaurant, cabaret, bar, a farmers-public market, and a state of the art milti-purpose children’s playground complete with a water park. Phase One is 75% completed and it is expected to be finished by this fall. ZZ Top and Smokey Robinson with the South Arkansas Symphony will perform for the late September’s grand opening.

Phase Two will encompass the historic Rialto Theater, which will be restored to its original 1929 interior, and become a Broadway Play venue. In addition, the McWilliams Furniture building, across the street from the Griffin Auditorium, will be totally transformed into a three floor art museum called the McWilliams Gallery.  A possible connection to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville is being discussed. In addition to the above projects, a black box studio for smaller entertainment attractions will be part of the Phase Two construction, and a block north, around the courthouse square, several other entertainment venues are being planned. The overall budget of this ambitious entertainment project is approaching $100,000,000.

The Festival City of the South plan developed by Mr. Brooks is based on the success of Ashland, Oregon’s entertainment district, which features multi-stage venues very similar to what El Dorado’s Entertainment District will have. Downtown Ashland draws over 175,000 visitors a year and the multi-venue stages have resulted in the creation of over 500 jobs. The adjoining business district in Ashland is a major beneficiary because of the huge number of visitors, and downtown Ashland is booming! Mr. Brooks commented about El Dorado noting that our demographics were better than Ashland’s, our award-winning downtown is much superior, and the Rialto is, without question, a jewel that greatly helps the concept.

When the Murphy Arts District is finished, several hundred entertainment presentations a year will be offered in the various venues.

Naturally, every small to medium size town can’t duplicate the Entertainment District Concept, but the concept of becoming a destination by offering amenities that enhance the quality of life for its residents can revitalize many towns across the country.