Griffin: Downtown Texarkana sitting on potential boom with historic sites
Downtown Texarkana, Ark., has the potential for a boom utilizing the existing historical buildings, said Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin during a visit to downtown Thursday afternoon.
Griffin attended the reception of the Greater Texarkana Young Professionals at Hopkins Icehouse.
Griffin praised the local leadership with their goals to make use of the historical buildings.
“A lot of other towns in Arkansas during the last decade tore down the old buildings, and now those towns wish they had the old buildings.
“Texarkana has a good opportunity for investments in the downtown buildings,” he said.
“In my view the state can help on the Arkansas side by getting the taxes lower and to welcome job growth and not to hinder it. The state government can help through regulatory reform and tax reform to protect the investments into downtown,” Griffin said.
The downtown could become similar to downtown Little Rock with an entertainment district, he said.
“This has to be a long-term vision. It’s not something you can do in a year. You can’t flip a switch and it works. It takes planning,” Griffin said.
“You can’t force people to go downtown. You’ve got to make it a place where people want to go. The leadership here is thinking about it with hotels and restaurants within walking distance downtown,” he said.
Griffin grew up in Magnolia, a fifth-generation Arkansan and the youngest son of a minister and teacher. He was elected the lieutenant governor of Arkansas on November 4, 2014, and is currently serving his first four-year term.
Greater Texarkana Young Professionals is an organization promoting the “retention, education, and growth of diverse young professionals in the Texarkana region through professional and social immersion,” according to to the group’s Facebook page.