New developments steer progress
Saline County is set to receive many upgrades in the coming years. Proposed improvements include an event center in Benton, a plant expansion in Bauxite and continued progress on road developments in Bryant, all of which will have a positive economic impact on Saline County.
Benton event center
In November 2011, 72 percent of those who voted approved the extension of the Benton Advertising and Promotion Commission’s 1.5 percent tax to fund the construction of an event center in Benton, said Gary James, executive director of the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce.
In March, city officials negotiated the purchase of the future site of the event center in Hickory Square on Interstate 30 South, near the tinsel town movie theater and also named CDI construction as the construction managers, James said. The proposed 28,000-square-foot event center will accommodate 700 people during banquets and up to 1,000 for lecture-style events, he said.
Additionally, plans are in the works to add a private hotel that will be connected to the convention center, James said.
The total cost of building the event center is estimated at $7 million, with the private hotel, which is yet to be negotiated, funding its own construction costs, he said. Groundbreaking on the center’s site is planned for July or August, with construction to take 12 to 14 months. James projected that the hotel and event center will employ 30 to 35 people when it is fully operational.
With Saline County situated between the bustling cities of Hot Springs and Little Rock, James said, the event center will help fill a special niche in the growing county.
“Seventy-two percent of voters approved this. … It served as a mandate to us to have a vision for the future. It just makes you proud of this city and this county for having the vision to step out and be a leader in this state,” James said.“i think we’re going to enhance this region by filling a niche. … Hopefully, we’re going to play a part in helping this region keep going.”
Bauxite plant expansion
A global manufacturing company announced in August 2011 that it would invest $100 million in a new manufacturing facility in Bauxite at the site of the Alcoa plant on Alcoa Road. according to a release from the company, Saint-gobain’s Proppants division will build a 100,000-square-foot facility on a 68-acre parcel in Saline County.the facility may employ up to 140 people when it is completed later this year, the release states.
The new facility will manufacture ceramic proppants, which are spherical beads about the size of a grain of sand that maintain integrity under extreme pressure, according to the release. The proppants are especially helpful with the gas-fracking process because they are inserted into underground fractures in oil and gas wells to “prop” open the fracture, the release states.
“The proppants are used to increase the yield of oil and gas wells,” said Bill Seiberlich, communications manager for Saint-gobain.“i think it’s a long-term product [that will produce long-term jobs]. It’s been in use for many years.”
In a previous interview, Bauxite Mayor Johnny Mcmahan talked about the manufacturing facility.
“This is going to be a great shot in the arm in this area. we’re excited about it,” Mcmahan said.
The construction of the facility is under way, with some equipment planned for commission in early 2013 and commercial production starting as early as the second quarter of 2013, Seiberlich said.
Bryant road developments
Ongoing discussions about road developments near the Raymar Road overpass and the expansion of Alcoa Road to a four-lane have kept Bryant city planners and residents busy for the past several years.
“[Road development] is important to future growth and economic development …,” said Rae Ann Fields, executive director of the Bryant Area Chamber of Commerce. “We would like to see a route south of the Raymar Road overpass. We just have too much traffic on the roads we do have, and we’ve got to have accessibility to anything that goes south.”
While the Raymar Road area is still a sensitive subject for Bryant residents, the cities of Benton and Bryant have finally reached an agreement about the four-lane expansion of Alcoa Road, Saline County Judge Lanny Fite said.the road, which is now a two-lane, will include a raised median and a shared 5-foot-wide pathway for pedestrians and bicycles, Fite said.
The road will also feature roundabouts at Boone Road and Sleepy Village Road, Fite said. By the end of the year, Saline County residents will see extensive utility work being performed as the project continues with right-of-way acquisitions, and utilities are required to move to accommodate the widening of the road.
Richard Magee, deputy director of Metroplan, which will fund 80 percent of the project, leaving the remaining 20 percent to be funded based on the amount of road construction in each jurisdiction, said the utility movements could take a year to a year-and-a-half. Road construction will begin after the utilities have been moved, he said.the actual road project, which will be bid out to a private contractor, could begin as early as 2014, Magee said.