A requiem for common sense and true interest/respect for heritage. September 16, 2015

Over the years much ballyhoo about Fort Smith being the Gateway to the West and the Hanging Judge Parker & Marshals bringing law and order to the badlands. Now a herculean effort to extort funds (billed as a private endeavor but recipient of more taxpayer money by far) for a proposed $50 million, 50,000 ft. futuristically designed Marshal’s Museum, while the much touted expensive Convention Center pays employees lots more money than it takes in, never mind maintenance, etc. Common sense?

Now when the time comes which would be perfect to reflect that rich legacy what do the pundits choose to depict on their giant mural project on downtown buildings? Call it fauvism or modern art nonsense with no relevance to the area’s heritage, history, accomplishments, heroic or not; realism.

It is as though the “leaders” of this extensive, expensive project are non-compos-mentis when it comes to real art and true history. Sitting on a gold mine and digging for lead instead.

First, whoever saw a city on a major river that could not or would not exploit its unique history or scenic possibilities? No restaurants, very few historical reproductions, no riverboats, nothing of consequence. Tombstone, AZ capitalizes on its western heritage, corny as it may be, but it attracts tourists by the hundreds of thousands….just to name one of many towns which capitalize on their history.

Second, if murals are to be viable assets it would have made much more sense to start at the Garrison Ave. bridge with depictions of the Fort, the Judge/Marshals, and riverboats, then work the way up the Avenue evolving historical sights—soldiers, traders, Indians, pioneers, horses, dogs, children, men, women in sunbonnets, covered wagons, buggies on cobblestone streets, farriers, barbers, cafes, hotels, taverns, the subject matter is endless and tells a real story of the founding and growth of the Fort town.

That would indeed help to make this an interesting stop for visitors either passing through on I-40 or coming to stay a while.
How many golden opportunities lost and why? Years ago several private entrepreneurs wanted to build a little western community with eateries, and even trails on the river to attract tourists & perhaps the Oklahoma Indians might have been interested in building an Indian village across the river? Riverboat attractions? No dice. Then, not terribly long ago an Indian tribe wanted to build a nice casino on the river, much like the one on the edge of town in Oklahoma which no doubt makes most of its money from Fort Smith environs. Again, no dice.

There are those who are profiting from the mostly moribund downtown by building unoccupied condos and office buildings, no doubt with the aid of some version of “Urban Renewal” funding …so perhaps other private investors would interfere with their plans?

While the city sits on a gold mine it is dying from lack of leadership priorities…such as forcing expensive, poisonous fluoride down the throats of citizens who voted against it twice, installing expensive water pads and parks, pushing for construction of 87 miles of expensive, unneeded trails, constructing a “homeless campus” which will attract many more alcoholics, drug addicts and mentally disturbed occupants to a location near the downtown area. All of this while the city has not obeyed the 25 year old EPA mandate to fix the sewers & leakage of such into our own Arkansas river and is now mandated to pay a $300,000 fine on top of nearly $500 million refurbishing of sewers/drainage which the taxpayers have subsidized for 30 years and the project was not accomplished, one must assume because of diversion of funds and poor management. Oh yes, don’t forget the pitiful shape our streets are in…who would choose to live in a town based on its trails rather than rotten roads?

Back in the day downtown was bustling and everyone referred to Garrison as “THE AVENUE”. Lots of things have caused that to change but the spirit could have been recaptured with some innovative thought, correct priorities, and honest use of funding, e.g. we all know that large parts of downtown STILL flood when it really rains.

Let us include in our requiem the term “True Grit”!!

~Barbara McCutchen
arkansasfreedom.net