City seeks input on downtown plans

SPRINGDALE — City leaders have planned two events this week to gather public feedback about an updated master development plan for the downtown area.

The meetings are set for 6:3o to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at 214 S. Main St. (the former Arts Center of the Ozarks building) and 6: 30 to 8: 30 p.m. Thursday at The Jones Center.

Representatives of H3 Studio, an urban design consultant in St. Louis, will lead the program, with “finger foods” provided, said Patsy Christie, director of the city’s Planning Department.

The city in October contracted with H3 Studio to update the downtown plan. H3 created the city’s first — and current — downtown master plan in 2015. The city expects completion of the new plan in August.

“The idea of a master plan is for the city to have a vision of what they want the area to look like and make it clear,” said Jeff Cooperstein, senior research assistant for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas.

“We also want people to know what we’ve accomplished under the 2015 plan,” Christie said. “It’s not a plan that will just sit on the shelf. We have implemented it. The new plan will tell us what we need to be doing now.”

In addition to the update, the H3 group also will lead breakout sessions to determine what the community members want and need downtown in the areas of housing, parking, street and infrastructure improvements, and the integration of the expansion of Luther George Park and renovation of the 52-acre campus of The Jones Center.

“The idea of a plan is to try to help intelligent development to happen,” Cooperstein said. “You want things to work together.”

“The downtown urban area is like a puzzle,” said Jill Dabbs, executive director of the Downtown Springdale Alliance. “Every piece matters.”

Downtown Springdale Alliance since January has received more than 1,000 participants in an online survey targeting downtown residents, downtown business owners and visitors to the downtown district. H3 will present a summary of the results during both input sessions.

Christie said the Alliance presented the survey in three languages, and staff have posted information about the meetings on active local Facebook pages, hoping to ensure participation and input from the various cultures represented in the city.

We want to hear different ideas to determine if anything in the new plan needs to be changed,” Christie said. “The nice part of it is you get to hear from a large, diverse group.”