Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Progress Visible In Gurdon

Great cities make a great state, Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said, as he welcomed members of the Clark County Industrial Council to what he called one of the finest cities in Arkansas.

He praised the CCIC, calling it one of the best such organizations in the state, as its regular monthly meeting was held in the Cabe Student Center at Gurdon High School.

Normally, Smith said, a person doesn't want to look back at where they've been too much, but there are times when looking back is a good thing to see how far one has come.

Gurdon, he said, has been doing its part to make Clark County more marketable for industries.

City and county government work well together to make the area appealing and attractive to others moving in, or thinking about moving to the region.

Smith then gave a rundown on how the various departments within the Gurdon city government have been doing.

The Gurdon Housing Authority, he said, provides homes for the less fortunate and elderly.

Recently, the GHA completed a renovation project for the amount of $250,000.

The Gurdon Police Department works hard to keep crime down, he said, but this makes it hard to get grant money as those providing the funds want to see major crime statistics. Few such statistics available in from Gurdon, but the city has still received three Cops More grants in three years through the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gurdon also has one of the best fire departments around, Smith told the CCIC members. The 20 firemen in the department have top notch equipment and the South Clark County Rescue Unit is on hand when needed for emergencies and/or rescues.

The rescue unit was created through private donations, grants and funds provided by the Clark County Quorum Court.

Streets in the city have been improved through the efforts of the Gurdon Street Department, he said, along with help from the Clark County Road Department.

In 1994, Smith said, there were four gravel roads inside the city limits. Today there are none.

Talking about the Gurdon Water and Sewer Department, Smith said the new rural water system is 98 percent complete, with some clean up work still remaining to be finished.

This was a project encompassing some 50 miles and provided water and sewer services to GHS.

Whelen Springs, he continued, is looking to expand its water system and add about 80 new homes to it. Gurdon provides water to Whelen customers.

Smith then talked about the Airport Commission. There is more to Lowe Field, he said, than meets the eye and comes in handy during emergencies.

The runway was 4,600 feet long and 30 feet wide. However, its width was doubled to 60 feet, giving pilots a much better "target" for landing.

The entire runway was also blacktopped to make it smoother with plans in the works to have another two-inch overlay to be added.

Seed money to get the project started came from the Cabe Foundation. This allowed the commission to obtain a grant from the Arkansas Aeronautic Department.

Improvements were also done to Gurdon's city park in recent years, with new spring toys installed.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission also keeps Gurdon Lake stocked with fish, which keeps local and area anglers happy.

And, Smith said, there are other things in the works for Gurdon. A residential care facility is in the offing for the old Gurdon hospital at this time.

Johnny Harris, who operates the city-owned Hours of Joy daycare center, has purchased a building and is working to turn it into a juvenile foster care center. Once operational, the center will take children who have been removed from their homes.

This, Smith said, will benefit the entire county.

Gurdon is in the preliminary planning stages of renovating the downtown main street. Smith said the city will do all it can afford to do with this project.

Smith has met with engineers and discussed a New Orleans style look for the street, including planters on the sidewalk with trees and old fashioned street lights.

During his time in office, Gurdon has been accepted as an Arkansas Community of Excellence (ACE).

The city, he said, filed a three-year plan with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) and had 70 percent of the work done in the first year.

"It's important to listen to people," he said, "and we try to do it here." The people, Smith said, asked for an animal control ordinance for years and passed a half-cent sales tax last November to fund the department, as well as purchase emergency warning sirens and help the GPD.

Now, an animal control department is in operation, with some 60 animals having been picked up.

Other signs of progress in Gurdon include the construction of the new Cabe Middle School.

Dirtwork is being done on a new football stadium at the complex on Highway 67, and with the passage of a 3 mill tax, the district will be constructing a physical education building with two classrooms along with a field house and track.

Renovation work will also be done at GPS to the tune of $755,000. The primary school, Smith said, also has a new PE building.

"Education is important to industries looking to locate in an area," he said.

Renovation is in the final stages at City Hall, he told the CCIC members. This work is being done through a grant from the Cabe Foundation in the amount of $230,000.

The entire inside of the city municipal building is being worked on, from floor to ceiling, with a fireproof vault being added to protect and preserve city records.

Once the interior work is completed, the exterior will be sided.

Hopefully, he said, the work will be done before Christmas and an open house can be held to show off the renovations.

Smith also bragged on the GHS band, saying it received superior ratings at its last contest, while the Go-Devils are currently ranked fourth among class AA teams in the state with their 6-1, 4-0 record.

He talked about how the CCIC works with existing industry as this is where 80 percent of all new jobs come from.

International Paper, he said, has done quite a bit of expansion in the past few years. In fact, the company made capital expenditures of $35 million in 1979.

The Gurdon plant handles 1.15 million ton of logs annually, or a truckload every minute. It deals with 335 million square feet of plywood annually, and 122 million board feet of lumber each year. This translates into 34,000 board feet of lumber daily.

IP, he said, purchases $3 million in goods from state and local vendors and pays $330,000 in sales tax annually, along with $380,000 in property and franchise taxes each year.

The company, he continued, proposes to do a $14 million sawmill modernization program soon.

"Anything the CCIC can