Ribs and rock ’n’ roll

I’m having lunch in Neumeier’s Rib Room on Garrison Avenue in downtown Fort Smith, and the food just keeps coming. It’s obvious that Trent Goins, who heads poultry producer O.K. Foods, wants to impress us with the quality of the barbecue. There are ribs—wet and dry. There’s a smoked chicken. It’s an O.K. chicken, of course. There’s pulled pork, beef brisket and even smoked bologna.

I’m here to visit with Goins and Steve Clark about their plans to fulfill the late Bill Neumeier’s goal of transforming downtown Fort Smith into a regional dining and entertainment destination. Neumeier died Nov. 19 at age 54 after a long battle with depression. The cause of death was suicide. Goins, Clark, Jeff Gosey and other Fort Smith area business leaders are now more determined than ever to see Neumeier’s vision become a reality.

O.K. Foods was founded by Goins’ great-grandfather, Collier Wenderoth

Sr., in 1933. The business grew under the leadership of Collier Wenderoth Jr. and son-inlaw Randy Goins, Trent Goins’ father. Trent Goins didn’t immediately go into the poultry business after college. He began his career on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., handling agricultural issues for then-Congressman Marion Berry. Goins returned to Fort Smith and joined the family business in 2002.

Collier Wenderoth Jr. died in 2011, and O.K. Foods was sold later that year for more than $90 million to Mexican conglomerate Industrias Bachoco. Goins stayed with the company as its senior vice president of sales and marketing. When the president and chief executive officer of O.K. Foods left in February 2014, the Mexican owners asked Goins to take the job.

Clark, meanwhile, was born in the Dallas area. His family moved to Roland, Okla., which is just across the state line from Fort Smith, when Clark was in the fifth grade. Clark graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in finance in 1986. Two decades ago, he founded a logistical company known as Propak Corp. The company now has almost 2,000 employees with 60 of them working in a historic downtown Fort Smith building renovated by Clark. Propak has received national recognition for its supply-chain management solutions.

Neumeier opened a diner known as Coney Island in 1988. Goins has fond memories of going there with his grandfather.

“My grandfather would buy us both a hot dog and then take food to his employees,” Goins said. “Bill’s businesses grew from there. I came back to Fort Smith at the right time because people like Bill were already bringing life back to downtown.”

In 1990, Coney Island added the Downtown Pizza Wagon. In 1994, the business grew into the Coney Island Beer Garden at 817 Garrison Ave. The first touring act—Popa Chubby— played there the next year. Neumeier added a stage in 1996, and the place became known for its live entertainment. In 2009, the business became Neumeier’s Rib Room & Beer Garden.

At 508 Garrison Avenue, Neumeier started Papa’s Pub & Pizzaria. Neumeier sold the 817 Garrison Ave. location three years ago to a group who turned it into The Sound Room. The Rib Room then moved to its current location at 424 Garrison Ave.

Neumeier began the Riverfront Blues Festival in 1991 on a flatbed trailer stage on the banks of the Arkansas River. In 2015, he helped Goins and Gosey start the Peacemaker Arts & Music Festival in downtown Fort Smith. That annual festival has brought the likes of Jason Isbell and Ray Wylie Hubbard to town.

The Rib Room is filled with music memorabilia. The room housing the bar is decorated solely with Rolling Stones items that Neumeier collected.

“Bill saw this as his rock ’n’ roll barbecue joint,” Goins says. “Musicians loved hanging out in here because Bill treated them like royalty. Fort Smith has a great reputation among performers because of Bill.”

Goins talks excitedly about plans for the restaurant and its outdoor patio, where live performances will resume next spring. After lunch, we cross Garrison and visit Harry’s Downtown, an entertainment venue Gosey opened in August. Gosey owns AJ’s Oyster House downtown. He named his most recent venture in honor of the late Harry Schwartz, who operated a restaurant known as Harry’s Hamburger Barn back when there were few dining options along the avenue. The music venue will hold almost 200 people.

Clark stresses the need to make Garrison—the widest city street in the state—more friendly for pedestrians. He also lists potential new businesses along the avenue such as a distillery. In numerous speeches, Clark has urged Fort Smith residents to quit being jealous about what has happened in Washington and Benton counties and instead come up with ideas that will put Fort Smith on the map.

“We can’t match the resources of the Walton family and what that has brought to Northwest Arkansas,” Clark says. “We can’t build a Crystal Bridges in Fort Smith. In a way, though, that’s liberating. We’re forced to try new things that bring energy to the city and engage its people. The things happening here are genuine and authentic. They’re uniquely Fort Smith. We now have people who aren’t from here looking to make investments downtown.”

Clark hopes to spread the activity from Garrison into the surrounding neighborhoods.

“Downtown is more than just Garrison Avenue,” he says. “We should think of Garrison as the backbone and the side streets as the ribs. People with vision built this city back when it was on the American frontier. We let that spirit become dormant for a time, but we’re now back on the right track.”

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Senior Editor Rex Nelson’s column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

He’s also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.