It’s time to pursue downtown renewal

It’s very exciting that so many projects are being proposed for downtown Pine Bluff. We recall the stories about our fair city from decades ago when it was the hub of activity for southeast Arkansas. “You couldn’t find a parking place along Main Street then,” is a quote often heard that illustrates the hubbub that was downtown in the heydays.

Now, of course, parking is easy, although there’s no actual reason to stop a car in most areas down there since there’s nothing to do once one exits their vehicle.

Meaning, the lemon into lemonade at this point is that the slate is relatively blank and the city is deciding what the next 50 years could look like.

First, there is the proposal in front of the Advertising and Promotion Commission to take an area from Eighth Avenue and State Street all the way to Regional Park and use that for the development of tourism by highlighting Pine Bluff’s culture, history and art. As the commission was told, Pine Bluff is rich in the kinds of stories that attract travelers who are deeply interested in that type of tourism. The commission is now considering whether to commit the seed money to get the first phase of that project started.

Then last week, Go Forward Pine Bluff presented a plan that would transform a two-block area from Sixth Avenue and Main Street to State Street into a thriving community space for shopping, food and other diversions.

The point of this project would be to give people a reason to be downtown, something that is in very short supply at the moment.

“Where we live is important,” said James Meyer, an architect who has worked up some plans for Go Forward. “One of the things that Pine Bluff needs that we haven’t seen mentioned is things to do. How do we create a place where people want to spend time and invest?”

The proposal is to take underdeveloped downtown space and create a place that has restaurants and retail, a rooftop bar, an amphitheater and residential living areas, to name a few.

One of the improvements would include a plaza that would feature new seating berms, rainwater gardens, a bridge and an interactive water fountain the public could splash into or simply walk under, as well as micro storefronts that would allow retailers to get in front of customers in ways that would otherwise be too expensive for them.

The city is certainly seeing some transformational changes taking place, and those have been well documented. The aquatic center and library, the downtown plaza, those are excellent starts. These new proposals, if carried out, would completely alter what it means to venture downtown. The word vibrant comes to mind.

In one way of considering these proposals, there’s a “what do we have to lose?” way of thinking. The other, of course, is “oh, my, look at what we could gain.” Both hold some truth. What we have to lose down there is a relative wasteland of nothingness. What we have to gain is creating a reason for people to tour and eat and buy and celebrate life.

These are the very reasons that the A&P Commission and Go Forward exist. They are pushing the envelope of change. We should embrace that change. This is our time. Let’s make parking downtown a difficult task again.