Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Razorbacks logo to be removed
FAYETTEVILLE — This Razorback has been run over a few too many times.
The crumbling logo depicting the University of Arkansas’ mascot at Dickson Street and Arkansas Avenue needs to go, city road officials say.
It was installed in 2003 as part of a $3 million revitalization effort spearheaded by the now-defunct Downtown Dickson Enhancement Project with approval from the City Council and then-Mayor Dan Coody. Several of the intersections and crosswalks along Dickson Street had brick put in with upgrades made to sidewalks, lighting and benches.
City road crews have had to patch up the logo and the bricks surrounding it several times since then, Transportation Director Terry Gulley
said. Cars and trucks weighing up to 80,000 pounds pass through every day, causing wear and tear to the sloped intersection, he said.
“We’re going to make it better,” Gulley said. “It gets so much turning traffic and everything else.”
The plan is to make sure what crews put down will last at least 25 years, Gulley said.
Repaving the intersection serves as one project among many on the city’s overlay plan this year. Each year the Transportation Committee, consisting of half of the City Council, recommends a list of street sections to pave over, along with a list of recommended sidewalks projects.
The budget this year calls for $1.2 million in overlay projects, according to the city.
Work on the intersection was originally scheduled to begin Tuesday but has been pushed back to June 4 because of weather. Construction should take about three weeks.
The improved intersection will leave room for a new Razorback, if the university or some other group wants to put one there.
“We understand that the city needs to make much needed improvements to the Arkansas Avenue and Dickson Street intersection,” said Steve Voorhies, university spokesman. “We appreciate having the option to restore the Razorback image in the future if feasible.”
The brick covering the streets of downtown Rogers have a 6- to 8-inch concrete base beneath them, making it structurally sound to traffic, said Ben Cline, the city’s spokesman. Sometimes bricks get jostled loose but the maintenance is worth the unique character the look brings, he said.
Fayetteville will place a brick-patterned thermoplastic at the Dickson Street and Arkansas Avenue intersection, much like what exists on some of the city’s trails, Gulley said. Thermoplastic is a durable material that can easily be shaped into artistic patterns at low cost, he said. A project that wrapped earlier this month from artist Stacy Levy depicts topographic lines along School Avenue made out of thermoplastic.
The Razorback Foundation in 2003 donated $30,000 to have the Razorback logo built on the street. The idea at the time was to attract pedestrian attention, especially during football games.
Kyle Potts of Tulsa, Okla., walked down Dickson Street from campus on Friday to get some lunch. He’ll be attending the university as part of research project this summer.
Potts said he walks by the spot almost daily. He welcomed any improvements to it.
“It’s a little bit of an eyesore,” he said. “It says ‘Razorbacks’ but I can’t really distinguish a Razorback on it. It’s so faded out, the concrete. It’s not in good shape.”
Bootsie Ackerman, then the director of the Downtown Dickson Enhancement Project, played a key role in securing the donation and bringing the logo to the street. It was supposed to blend in nicely with other improvements along the stretch.
“It should be a real exciting, neat thing,” Ackerman said in 2002. “It’s going to add some pizzazz to our landscape and our streetscape. And it’s nice to have the participation and financial input from the university.”
Ackerman, now district director for 3rd District Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, acknowledged the logo’s time has come. Years of neglect and punishment from vehicles have put the feature into a state of disrepair, and it’s time to do something with it, she said.
The Downtown Dickson Enhancement Project folded in 2004 after finishing its intended streetscape improvements. The group became Fayetteville Downtown Partners, but the city stopped funding it in 2007.
Ackerman said she still loves downtown Fayetteville despite her frequent traveling in her role with Womack’s office.
“It needs somebody to care about it,” she said. “The whole street needs somebody to care about it and make sure that it’s maintained and loved and preserved as an asset for this downtown community.”
Gulley said the city intends to repave the entirety of Dickson Street at some point in the future. Crews are patching spots more and more these days, he said.
“Everything that gets loved a lot wears out faster,” Gulley said. “It gets a lot of traffic.”