Texarkana Gazette

Mayor’s determinat­ion and ingenuity aid his city

Fouke has more than $2 million in grants in 10 years

- By Jim Williamson

Fouke, Ark., Mayor Terry Purvis has a philosophy of “nothing ventured, nothing gained” when he seeks state and federal grants or donations to construct projects from paving streets, building a community center to constructi­ng a welcome sign.

Through his ventures, Fouke, a town with a population of 865, has gained more than $2 million in grants in the past nine and a half years.

The city council approves the project and Purvis finds the grants.

“I study hard to find the grants. I pretty much believe nothing ventured, nothing gained. The sales pitch never starts until someone says no. When I’m told no, that’s when you go to work. It fires me up when they say no, and I work harder. That the fun of it,” said Purvis.

Purvis works with the Southwest Arkansas Developmen­t Council, Arkansas Municipal League and the U.S. Rural Services to find grants.

He was able to get a grant to pave a mile and a half of streets from the Arkansas Highway and Transporta­tion Department valued at $480,000.

Fouke also received a $15,000 grant from Homeland Security to install a storm siren.

Purvis said the city has worked with the General Improvemen­t Fund through the Arkansas Rural Developmen­t Agency which awarded a $10,000 grant to take down all the wall trim at city hall, power wash the building and spray paint it.

“I’ve lived here 30 years and

it’s the first time the city hall will have a face-lift,” Purvis said.

An $85,000 federal grant is being used to install commercial grade kitchen equipment and adding two new bathrooms at the Stanley Davis Community Center. The center will now have four bathrooms.

The project will also include the constructi­on of two concrete handicap parking spaces at the center.

“The community center has phenomenal use by the community,” Purvis said.

Within a year, the center has had 100,000 people to attend a variety of functions.

“I reviewed the reservatio­n book to get an idea of how many people walk through the front door and it’s about 100,000. We’ve had some family reunions where 150 people attended. We have senior citizens using the center five days a week with about 25 people attending per day,” Purvis said.

“We’ve had bingo games, fish fries, fund raisers, baby showers, birthday parties, school events and even weddings. Every Saturday is booked through November,” he said.

Some of the grants require a percentage of the funds to come from the city.

Fouke is paying $8,500 for its share of the $85,000 federal grant.

The city also provides in-kind services to pay for its share where the city might do the work instead of a constructi­on crew.

Local constructi­on companies will do the work on upgrading city hall and constructi­ng the doors for the center.

“The painting project was awarded to Home Doctors and CAF Constructi­on will do the metal work at the center. When you can get the homeboys to do the work, they do it with pride,” said Purvis.

Planning has started to apply for grants to construct four ball fields for tee ball, softball to high school level baseball.

“I’m researchin­g it and trying to see what we can get through donated labor, donated material and matching grants,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of local talent to rely on to help us build the ball fields and find grants,” Purvis said.

“Every little bit helps us. A town our size couldn’t write the checks we’ve received in grants,” he said.

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