Prairie Grove Joins Main Street Arkansas

FARMINGTON -- Prairie Grove will join Main Street Arkansas, a network of cities seeking to revitalize their historic downtown areas, according to a news release issued Friday afternoon by the Main Street Arkansas office.

Prairie Grove will become part of Arkansas Downtown Network, a program that falls under Main Street Arkansas and does not require as great a financial commitment as being a member of Main Street Arkansas.

As part of the Network, Prairie Grove will have access to quarterly meetings, organizational assistance and technical assistance from Main Street Arkansas staff members.

"We're thrilled," Rick Ault, chairman of Prairie Grove's Downtown Network steering committee, said Friday.

The city submitted an application to join the program in late March, and Ault and three other members of the committee gave a formal presentation to the Arkansas Main Street Advisory Board last week in Little Rock.

"We've been on pins and needles since then," Ault said.

Ault said the steering committee is ready to listen and learn from the experts at Main Street Arkansas.

"I think for us it's a great step in the right direction for our community, not just for today but for the future," Ault said.

Larry Oelrich, the city's director of administrative services and public works and also a member of the steering committee, encouraged city officials and community leaders to apply for the program last year. Oelrich attended a pre-application meeting in Little Rock and was impressed with how Main Street was helping other cities and towns.

"I think it's exciting news for Prairie Grove," Oelrich said Friday. "I think it will really benefit the downtown if they will embrace it and I think they will."

Main Street Arkansas has a proven record that being a part of the program brings business into a town when cities embrace the goals and objectives of the program, Oelrich added.

Rachel Patton, formerly Rachel Silva of Farmington, is a member of the Main Street Arkansas Advisory Board and Friday said she was impressed with Prairie Grove's application and presentation. Patton is executive director of Preserve Arkansas.

"I was extremely excited when I saw Prairie Grove had applied," Patton said. "I'm from Farmington and was a member of Prairie Grove United Methodist Church practically from birth through college so I spent a lot of time in Prairie Grove."

As a member of Arkansas Downtown Network, Prairie Grove will receive technical assistance from the Main Street staff, and that alone, Patton said, is worth joining the program.

"The staff are wonderful people to work with," she said.

Technical assistance could include a new design for the store front, help with window displays, assistance in revamping the inside of a business or help with a business plan.

Patton said the program also gives the chance for an unbiased professional to give advice to a downtown area.

Main Street Arkansas has a four-point approach in helping with downtown revitalization: design, economic vitality, organization and promotion.

Ault said joining the Main Street program is just a starting point.

"I think we feel we are absolutely ready and also feel we are absolutely committed for the long haul," Ault said.

As a member of Arkansas Downtown Network, Prairie Grove is required to have a nine-member steering committee, to remain in the program for at least three years and to have a minimum annual budget of $4,350.

General News on 05/23/2018