SPRINGDALE -- A Bank of America donation slides another piece into place in the downtown district. The City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday night to accept the donation of about 2 acres.
The bank donated the property fronting on Emma Avenue that included the lobby and offices of the bank's former Emma branch as well as the drive-through to the south and parking lots on the east, south and west of the main building. The land will remain open for use by the public.
The appraised value of this banking complex was $320,950 in 2018, according to property records filed with the Washington County assessor's office.
"The worth of the property was never part of this discussion," said Patsy Christie, the director of the city's Planning Department. She said she worked with the late Walter Turnbow for about two years to acquire the property for the city. Turnbow retired in 1992 as chairman of the board of First State Bank of Springdale, a predecessor of Bank of America in that location.
"We thought we were going to have to buy it," Christie said.
First State Bank went through several sales and acquisitions before the Bank of America closed the branch. Eva Atwood sold the property to First State in 1962, according to county records.
The bank's donation to the city came with one contention: The city will lease back a bit of space where the bank will move its ATM.
Final plans for the ATM location and other use of space haven't been decided, Christie said.
Unofficially, the city plans to use the outdoor space as a new home for the city's farmers market, she said.
"It will be a culturally diverse ethnic food market, different from any other outdoor market in the area," said Jill Dabbs, executive director of the Downtown Springdale Alliance. The alliance helps promote the revitalization of downtown by sponsoring programs to bring people downtown.
The buildings will remain in place, perhaps providing restrooms for the public, storage for the city and even office space for groups such as the alliance, Christie suggested.
The wooded area south of the drive-through will be cleared a bit, but provide another green space for the downtown district.
The city will place a fence between this new property and the tracks of the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad to keep people away from the tracks, said Ernest Cate, the city attorney. The city agreed to build the fence as part of its negotiation last month to open a new street-railroad crossing at Holcomb Street.
NW News on 09/25/2019