Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Task Force Now Commission

What began as a task force to help Arkadelphia rebuild after the March 1 tornadoes, has become a commission with legal authority.

The Arkadelphia 2025 Commission, formerly the 2025 Task Force, was established shortly after the F-4 tornadoes destroyed much of downtown Arkadelphia. Its mission is to help the city rebuild and get back on its feet.

Blain Smith, the director of the Arkadelphia-Clark County Chamber of Commerce, is the executive director of the 2025 Commission.

He said the first public meeting was called by the Chamber, with local attorney Bill Wright the moderator. Some 250 people showed up, with positive results following.

State Rep. Percy Malone was nominated to chair the task force, with Dr. Dan Grant suggesting this task force become a legal entity. Malone was able to get legislation through the 81st General Assembly changing it from a task force to a commission with Act 1069 and Senate Bill 229.

The commission began with 11 members filling the panel, and being charged with recruiting others to help. The commission was to be a balanced group representing the entire community. The original 11 members were: Clark County Judge Grady Runyan; Arkadelphia Mayor Mike Kolb; Arkadelphia City Manager Jim McAlister; Planning Commission chairman Bill Warner; State Sen. Mike Ross; Arkadelphia school Superintendent Carolyn McGaughey; Ouachita Baptist University President Dr. Ben Elrod; Henderson State University President Dr. Charles Dunn; Chamber President Veda Morgan; Chamber director Blain Smith; Jane Lucas; attorney Bill Wright; the Rev. Llewellyn Terry; and Lewis Shepherd.

Initial funding for the commission was provided by the Ross Foundation, Smith said. In fact, he said the administrative costs of the panel are all from private donations. Any public money received will be used to help Arkadelphia rebuild and help individuals get their lives back in order.

According to Smith, the commission is not handling any government funds at this time. This is being done by the local governmental agencies, such as the city council and quorum court.

At this time, he said, 2025 is working to put together suitable development to allow for economic growth for the entire county, with primary focus being placed on the tornado damaged areas. This includes, Smith said, the redevelopment of neighborhoods utilizing non- traditional methods.

In fact, the entire concept behind the plans for downtown Arkadelphia are based on a return to the past -- the 1890's.

The idea, he said, is to make use of zero lot lines and allow for homes to be constructed closer to lot boundaries than before. Due to prior ordinances, homes had to be built almost in the middle of lots.

The concept is to have public play areas in neighborhoods, along with walkways and a trail connecting these residential areas to downtown Arkadelphia by increasing the population density.

According to Smith, this type of project is not unique to Arkadelphia, but is being done on a national scale where possible.

The idea is to help people get acquainted with their neighbors, therefore helping cut down on crime while creating a more friendly atmosphere. "It's a return to past values for modern necessity," he said.

"We're helping encourage a mixed community to allow a more social environment and maybe create extended families. We want safe, clean neighborhoods."

Restaurants, churches and recreation will also play a vital role in the renovation of this kind of neighborhood. In a way, the reasoning is to return to the lifestyles of the 1890s when people knew their neighbors and socialized accordingly.

"We'd like to encourage front porches," Smith said.

The concept for the return to the past, he said, comes from concentrated research done with information provided by the University of Arkansas and Woodward and Clyde, a federal disaster planning company.

Talking about the business district, Smith said the idea is to use European models with those buildings being more than one story tall having many uses.

The first floor, he said, would be for retail, while the second floor would be offices and apartments. Third floors, for those buildings this tall, would be for apartments.

This is to encourage interaction among people and to help keep people in the downtown area after normal business hours.

Parking will also be affected by the plans. In the past, the reasoning was to have as many parking spaces as there was apartments for residential buildings. Under the new plans, however, the idea is to have central parking lots and encourage people to walk around downtown. "This way they can go from shop to shop without driving," Smith said.

According to Smith, the 2025 Commission is in agreement the best location for a new Clark County Courthouse would be on Third and Fourth streets along Main Street. He said topographical maps show this location to be on the same ledge as the current courthouse and it being the highest point in the downtown area.

Plans for the courthouse would make it the focal point of downtown Arkadelphia, as visitors to the downtown area would see it at the end of Main Street when looking toward the river.

In addition, this location would allow for growth and development along the riverfront.

"Second and Third streets," Smith said, "have the most people living there who will be affected. This is a hard decision, but had to be made. It's a win-win situation if we can find a way to cause minimum disturbance to the residents. It will benefit the county for the next 100 years."

According to information from the 2025 Commission, it was created to: determine the immediate needs of Arkadelphia and the surrounding area; determine the long-range needs and opportunities of the region; seek and expand funds from all sources, public and private; coordinate the activities of the various federal, state and local agencies as well as the private sector in providing for the economic, social and physical needs of the area; serve as the lead agency in the rebuilding and revitalization of the region; establish goals; and perform all other powers and functions necessary to fulfill these duties.

This authority was granted by the state legislature.

Members of the commission are: Paulette Blacknall; Elton Buck; Tom Calhoon; Terri Chaney; Freddy Conine; Bill Conine; Dot Curry; Dr. Charles Dunn; Dr. Ben Elrod; Estalla Forte; Wilma Gill; Ed Hunter; Kendall Hunter; Anne Kelly; Mike Kolb; Sara Lindholm; Jane Lucas; Percy Malone; Patsy Malone; Jim McAlister; Mike McFarland; Carolyn McGaughey; Joe Miles; George Mitchell; Vega Morgan; Joe Nix; Sen. Mike Ross; Julie Sanders; Dr. Lewis Shepherd; Blain Smith; Charles Summerford; Rev. Llewellyn Terry; Bill Warner; Mary Whipple; and Bill Wright.