Last of four stone welcome monuments to be erected

EL DORADO — City officials are hoping to be able to finally erect the last of four new welcome monuments as part of an effort to make the city’s gateways more attractive and inviting.

A location has been secured and all that is needed is approval from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, said Robert Edmonds, director of public works.

Edmonds said he expects to hear back from the AHTD within the next few days, and if the state gives the go-ahead, work can begin on erecting the brick and stone monument along the U.S. 167 south gateway into the city.

The effort would complete a project that has been ongoing since 2012 when the then-El Dorado Economic Development Board and El Dorado City Council approved a $400,000 budget to install gateway monuments along four entrance points into the city, U.S. 82 west, Arkansas 7, and U.S. 167 north and south.

The monuments are part of a $945,000 economic development package that was proposed by a task force that is spearheading the project.

Other components of the proposal were two new digital marquees that were set up for the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium and the El Dorado Conference Center and the purchase of wayfinding signs that will be posted later within city limits.

Mike Dumas, interim president and chief executive officer of the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce and a member of the gateway task force, inquired about the balance of the budget for the monuments during an El Dorado Works Board meeting on Aug. 9.

The gateway project is funded through the former El Dorado Forward tax.

Mayor Frank Hash said then there was one monument left to be built and Alan Gober, treasurer of the EWB and the former EEDB, said $117,000 remained in the budget.

Members of the task force and city officials have said that past negotiations have failed in the search for property along the U.S. 167 south corridor in the general area of the U.S. 82 exchange.

Edmonds said the new prospective site for the fourth monument lies at the end of Lorene Avenue, just south of the U.S. 82 bypass.

As with the other three monument sites — Arkansas 7 spur near El Dorado Chemical Company; U.S. 82/ Magnolia Highway near Wrights Lane; and just past Missile Mart on U.S. 167 north toward Calion —, Edmonds said the Lorene property is being donated for the welcome signs.

“We own the street, and at the dead-end, there was

one property owner, and he agreed to allow us to use his property to put up that sign,” Edmonds said.

To make way for the sign, he said the city will have to relocate a driveway that leads to a rural piece of property behind the Murmil Heights neighborhood.

“It’s a logical place to put it. It’ll look good sitting up on that hill,” Edmonds said. “You’ll not only be able to see it from the (U.S.) 167/82 exchange, but also from the 82 bypass. It has really good visibility there.”

Edmonds said that even though Lorene is a city street, the AHTD is reviewing the project, as it did the others, because the placement of he sign will have an impact on those who are traveling along highways through town.

“It’s not a bad thing. They have to look at those kinds of things to keep nuisances and distractions out of the peripheral vision of traffic,” Edmonds said.

The gateway monuments come with brick and stone columns, a cast stone cap and belt course, and a stone landscape border that incorporates the “E! Dorado” logo, a feature that can be removed should the city be re-branded in the future.

Other work that is included in the installation of the monuments are site preparation, landscaping and utilities for irrigation and lighting.