Talking up downtown

Coalition set up to promote biz interests

Thriving downtowns don’t just happen, but if any in Northwest Arkansas could succeed on cruise control, it might be Fayetteville’s.

University of Arkansas students just up the hill, after all, create a readymade market for many businesses on Dickson Street and the broader downtown area. But that doesn’t mean the downtown area is, to borrow a phrase from U.S. Army promos, all it can be.

It appears city leaders and downtown business owners are unified on the forward-looking philosophy that downtown Fayetteville is great, but can be better. A new advocacy group, the Downtown Fayetteville Coalition, has formed, and city leaders as well as the city’s Advertising and Promotion Commission are convinced enough of its potential that the group will get $310,000 in public funding between now and the end of 2025.

In return, the organization will promote downtown businesses, have a consultative role in which downtown events Mayor Lioneld Jordan issues permits for and put on six of its own events by the end of 2025. The eventual goal is for the coalition to become financially self-sustaining.

The idea, too, is to foster the success of an organization that can be a go-to resource/sounding board when city officials need feedback about downtown planning. The coalition will be integral to a two-year, $650,000 city effort to develop a downtown master plan for capital expenditures.

With the approaching construction of a civic plaza for outdoor performances and local events, it’s a great time for a unity of purpose downtown.

Still, one coalition leader commented in a recent story in this newspaper that he hopes the coalition will serve as a single point of contact between the city and downtown business and property owners. We’d differ slightly. Downtown Fayetteville remains a diverse collection of businesses, personalities and ideas. A single organization will necessarily give voice to ideas embraced by a majority of members. It’s likely on key issues there will also be minority voices. No organization should be viewed as exclusively representing the views of downtown business and property owners. City leaders should also always remain open to those voices who may feel a need to offer independent thoughts about downtown’s future.

Nevertheless, the coalition sounds like a great starting point for talks and advocacy for a downtown that remains one of the city’s greatest assets.