City riverfront draws interest

Developers seeing potential, Fort Smith mayor says

Riverfront Drive runs all along the Arkansas River in Fort Smith, starting at about Kelley Park and going past such other amenities as the Skate and Bike Park, U.S. Marshals Museum and Fort Smith Park.

FORT SMITH — The city stands to benefit from developers’ increasing interest in property along the Arkansas River, Mayor George McGill told city directors this week.

McGill said there is considerable discussion taking place concerning “some very, very interesting, exciting projects” that could happen on the riverfront.

“People are now starting to vote with their money, and we’re seeing that happen,” McGill told the board Tuesday. “There is robust discussion about potential projects for the riverfront, and so those discussions are very exciting to me, but I’m just not privy to talk about them.”

City Administrator Carl Geffken noted in a memo to the board that the U.S. Marshals Museum, as well as the city’s Riverfront Skate and Bike Park and Greg Smith River Trail, have all been built in the riverfront area over the past five years. The city also purchased 312 acres there as part of a public-private partnership to build soft trails.

“There is additional development on the horizon, and the city is investing in infrastructure to incentivize that development,” Geffken wrote.

Geffken said the infrastructure includes water and sewer lines, as well as an extension of Kelley Highway to Riverfront Drive, or Arkansas 255. The Arkansas Department of Transportation is also scheduling work to improve Riverfront Drive.

Riverfront Drive runs all along the Arkansas River in Fort Smith, starting at about Kelley Park and going past such other amenities as the Skate and Bike Park, U.S. Marshals Museum and Fort Smith Park before ending at U.S. 64.

At-Large Position 6 Director Kevin Settle expressed his desire for a larger theater to be built at Kelley Park. He argued that a place where Fort Smith could have 40 or 50 concerts per year would attract more people to the city. The park is already home to the Riverfront Amphitheater, which has a capacity for 1,128 people, according to the Parks and Recreation Department’s website. “In a post-covid world, how is Fort Smith going to be positioned is the key,” Settle said.

The Fort Smith Central Business Improvement District Commission voted in January to approve a concept drawing for an RV park on Riverfront Drive. Real estate development company Griffin Properties partnered with Commissioner Phil White in a joint venture to develop the proposed park, which would include 107 RV spaces, 12 tent spaces, a manager residence and office, a swimming pool, restrooms, two pavilions and a boat ramp, according to Brenda Andrews, senior planner with the city Planning Department.

Commission chairman Bill Hanna said he thinks the RV park would help the local economy by giving people traveling through the area a place to stop.