Purchase of former Walmart site paves way for Prairie Grove move

Building to house both city libraries under same roof

PRAIRIE GROVE — The Prairie Grove Library and its Children’s Library will have a new home next year and they’ll be under the same roof.

The City Council last week authorized Mayor Sonny Hudson to buy the former Walmart Express building on Buchanan Street from Harps Food Stores.

The city will pay $775,000 for the 15,000-square-foot building, with Harps donating $125,000 of the money back to the city.

Hudson said the city will pay the $650,000 remainder with $250,000 from its library expansion fund, $200,000 from its reserve account and a $300,000 bank loan. He’s contacting banks to check on interest rates.

The arrangement will leave the city with money to convert the former grocery store to a library, he said.

The building will have a separate children’s area. A large benefit will be all library employees will be under one roof, he said.

Iva Sorrell, Prairie Grove Library director, said her staff is looking forward to the new building.

“We can’t wait to be under one roof,” Sorrell said. “We have programs lined up, and it will be wonderful to be able to do those.”

The two libraries have three full-time employees. Megan Wood is director of the children’s library.

Sorrell said she believes the new location on the western end of town will be a better one because the city seems to be growing that direction. In addition, the

library will have a lot more parking.

The oldest part of Prairie Grove Public Library was built in 1966, with the latest expansion in 1996. The children’s library opened in 2006 in a building formerly used as a post office and by Life Ministries.

Sorrell has talked about the need for either a new library or expanding the existing facility for years.

The Prairie Grove Walmart Express was the first one of that format to be opened by Walmart in June 2011. Walmart closed its Express stores in January 2016 and Harps purchased nine of the closed stores in June 2018.

Hudson said he has talked to Harps for some time about purchasing the building and began serious negotiation after Arvest Bank sold its downtown building to the Prairie Grove School District. The city had hoped to purchase the Arvest building for a library.

He doesn’t have a time frame on when a new library will open. The purchase includes equipment in the store and Hudson said the city will sell those items to help defray costs. Items to sell include shelving, a large oven and refrigeration cases.

The mayor was unsure what the city will do about the gas station on the property. The city will register it as inactive, but it’s possible one of the pumps may be used to provide fuel for municipal vehicles.

“We’re not forced to do anything with it unless we choose to,” Hudson said.

Besides making changes on the inside, Hudson said exterior work will include signs, painting and other cosmetic improvement to make the building look like a library and not a Walmart grocery store.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Hudson Cantu, 6, admires his very first library card Thursday at the Doris Sharp Children’s Library in Prairie Grove. The city is purchasing the former Walmart Express building and plans to move the library and children’s library into it.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK The former Walmart Express building in Prairie Grove is being bought by the city to use as a public library.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Theola Greene (right) of Prairie Grove smiles Thursday after being assisted by Iva Sorrell, library director, at the Prairie Grove Public Library. The city is purchasing the former Walmart Express building and plans to move the library and children’s...