Real progress on renewal

We are not from Missouri, but there’s a bit of that “show me” business in us when someone is talking about economic development. In Pine Bluff, that big, elusive economic force was always said to be just over the horizon, just barely out of sight.

But two stories in The Commercial this week on urban renewal put some visibility on the subject. And by that, we mean you can go downtown and see things happening for yourself, which is what reporter Dale Ellis did.

First up on this to-do list is getting rid of blighted property. Enter the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency, which is run by Maurice Taggart. It took the city a bit to get that right in that the agency can’t act on its own, even though the agency is an autonomous body created by the city. Now that that wrinkle has been ironed out, Taggart and company have been busy getting rid of eyesores in the downtown area.

But as Taggart wisely notes, it takes more than ridding an area of blight to reach success. To that end, the agency is also working on restoring downtown properties, as well as — are you ready? — planning for having some downtown living spaces.

And about that plan to restore properties in the downtown area — that just seems to be the best of both worlds. On the one hand, there is high interest in preserving the history and feel of the downtown area. One does that by not knocking down those historic buildings. On the other hand, those buildings are old and have a lot of problems. (Remember when they were falling down on each other what seemed like every other week?)

Again, enter the urban renewal agency. Taggart is working on taking three sad buildings — at 316, 322 and 324 S. Main St. — and stabilizing them and bringing them back to a place where they can be sold. As part of that work, the historical nature of the building is preserved, and at the same time, there is a significant freshening up of the building to get it ready for a new owner, who is responsible for finishing out the interior to their own specifications.

Taggart said when outside investors are approached, their first question is to ask what Pine Bluff has done to help itself. There was a time, not that long ago, when the answer would have been to look at one’s shoes.

But now, what with the passage of a sales tax for Go Forward Pine Bluff, which helped get the urban renewal agency going, as well as the new Pine Bluff Library, the Pine Bluff Aquatic Center, each of which had different funding sources and cost more than $10 million, and a $2.8 million “streetscape” project, which includes sidewalks, lighting and an outdoor plaza, the answer to that question is “come on, let me show you what Pine Bluff is doing for itself.” In short, Pine Bluff, through tax dollars, has ponied up many millions of dollars to help itself.

As Taggart sees it, within 10 years, downtown Pine Bluff will be a lively area full of restaurants, shops and entertainment venues. OK, so that too is just over the horizon and just out of sight, but the difference is, we can see the steps being taken now to get there. That is something that assuredly has not gone on for the past several decades, and that alone makes us a believer.