Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Leaders Moving Forward In Arkadelphia (cont)

reet location is the best place to build, should the court decide to build on land the county doesn't currently own.

"I'm not against the spot," he said, "I'm against taking people's homes. But it's part of the duties of office, and I swore to uphold them.

"The land will be appraised, the court will appropriate the money and built, but I don't know where the money to build will come from. We'll have to use part of our building fund to buy the land."

Runyan said several people have mentioned there will be government money available for the project, but none has been seen yet.

On the other hand, he said the court has agreed to renovate and restore the current courthouse. Though the money hasn't been appropriated by the court yet, Twin Rivers Architects will be designing the plans.

But, Runyan said, a new set of plans will have to be drawn up for the new courthouse because the plans for the annexation won't work. Those plans were designed to add on to the courthouse, not as a stand alone structure.

There is money available to renovate and restore the old courthouse, he said. The money from the insurance company must be used for this purpose, as do the funds from the Arkansas Historical Society and FEMA.

Malone said if the owners don't want to sell and the court doesn't invoke eminent domain, the committee will find another suitable place for the courthouse.

"The same thing is being done all over the U.S.," he said. "Local people are deciding what they want their community to look like.

"We've talked to people who want businesses to conform in looks and make it better to visit and shop (downtown)."

The final decision, he said, will be made by local citizens. The 2025 Commission wants to build buildings the people can be proud of, something they wouldn't be ashamed to put their name on and be part of the community.

In order to achieve this conformity, he said, Hollywood producer Harry Thomason, the University of Arkansas Center for Community Planning and FEMA, worked together on plans. FEMA provided funding for Woodard and Clyde, a community planning agency, for its part of the aid.

The idea these groups came up with was an 1890s downtown, complete with gas streetlights. Still, though, Malone said there are several options to be decided on.

Ultimately, he said, the final decision will be made by local people on what they want. "We could have let outsiders come in and tell us what it (downtown) would look like, or gather information, take suggestions and help with local people to decide. This is what we decided to do.

Thomason, Malone said, offered his assistance, but didn't want to get in the way of the planning. He had research done with the Disney Company about what people in communities like and had a model built showing what Arkadelphia could look like.

This design, Malone said, has great visual impact with the courthouse at the end of Main Street on Third and Fourth streets.

He said there is space around it to develop, as well as room for development along the river.

"It will take a while," he said, "but we can grow to it. The courthouse is an integral part of our life and community. People from all over the county come to the courthouse. It needs to be easily accessible, functional and nice."