City leaders from around Arkansas see what’s working in Glenwood
I’m always looking for opportunities to report on historic preservation. This story for The Glenwood Herald was fun for me because it detailed what some Arkansas cities are doing to revitalize their downtown areas.
Ki Hartsfield speaks to city leaders who came together in Glenwood on Friday, Aug. 14. All photos: Michael Hibblen
Leaders of small Arkansas cities have long faced many of the same challenges: how to help their communities prosper amid declining populations and deteriorating infrastructure. A core group is now sharing ideas and hoping to, as they openly put it, “rip off and duplicate” what is working elsewhere.
The group gets together every month or two in different cities to discuss strategies and network. The latest gathering was Friday, Aug. 14, when nearly two dozen mayors, chamber members and others came to Glenwood to discuss and see firsthand what has worked locally, particularly efforts to rejuvenate what had been a mostly abandoned downtown. Cities represented included Malvern, Waldron, Leslie, Keo, McNeil, Fordyce, De Queen and Amity.
The group assembled at Mercantile on Broadway, the shop owned and operated by Ki and Kayla Hartsfield, who have been active over the past three years investing in properties, organizing community events and bringing new life to downtown.
“We want to give you a scope of what that looks like, how that came to be, the lessons learned, the hurdles faced,” said Ki Hartsfield, executive vice president of commercial lending at Southern Bancorp. “The truth is, we don’t know what we’re doing, and I hope that’s an empowering statement.”
“We’ve had tons of successes. It’s easy to share the story now because we can show you success. It was harder two years ago because it did not look good,” he said.
The core message of the day, Hartsfield said, was for cities to realize that “help is not coming. There’s no blueprint, there’s no guide, there’s no master plan,” he said. “Just doing something is the key.”
REVITALIZING DOWNTOWN GLENWOOD
Kayla Hartsfield, president of the Glenwood Regional Chamber of Commerce, recalled attending a town hall meeting with about 20 people in January 2023. There was discussion about community needs, such as a sports complex and splash pad, before the conversation eventually turned to vacant buildings downtown. Questions were raised about who owned the buildings and what it would take to restore them.
“I realized there were more people than just us who wanted to see these buildings brought back to life, who wanted to see businesses downtown,” she said.
At the time, 60% of the buildings in downtown Glenwood were empty, Ki Hartsfield said.
“Not just vacant, but dilapidated, leaking, more mice than people — it was in bad shape,” he said. “So, obviously, working in Glenwood, driving through it day in and day out, I thought, man, let’s put our money where our mouth is.”
The couple began researching who owned the buildings and found that some could be purchased relatively cheaply. But they soon realized they couldn’t tackle the effort alone. Conversations with other like-minded young professionals eventually led to the formation of an investment group made up of six couples.
During a tour of buildings in downtown Glenwood, the group went through a former shoe store that is being cleaned out and will become a shop that sells homemade soaps.
Since then, Hartsfield said, $1.8 million in private capital has been invested in the two-block downtown area. He said he warned the other investors from the beginning that their investments might feel more like donations.
“We have to put purpose over profits, and that’s hard for people to digest. The reason Glenwood hadn’t been flipped is because it doesn’t make sense on paper,” he told the group.
“There has been a change in society where people want character in buildings. People want experience, right? The bypass and strip malls — no offense to those, but they’re kind of out,” Hartsfield said. “You have to look at it from another lens, because if it worked on paper, someone else would have done it.”
The municipal leaders were led on a walking tour of downtown, visiting five local businesses now operating in restored buildings. The final stop highlighted one of the biggest challenges still facing the investors: the historic Alford building. Efforts are continuing to find a tenant or tenants for the two-story, 8,000-square-foot building. Prospective tenants have toured the property, but so far none has worked out.
NETWORKING
Many of the city leaders also discussed how they came to serve their communities.
De Queen City Council member Rick Pruitt told the group that despite being born and raised there, he couldn’t wait to leave when he became an adult.
“I left De Queen in 1983 as a little punk rocker, shaking my fist saying, I’ll never come back. And then I moved back, because I wanted my daughter to climb the same trees as I did,” Pruitt said. “I’m so glad I did.”
Several participants told similar stories of leaving their communities for college or to pursue other opportunities, only to eventually return with a desire to improve their hometowns.
Three representatives of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission also attended, including Dana Poindexter, regional manager for southwest Arkansas. Poindexter first introduced Kayla Hartsfield to Keo Mayor Stephanie White, who has been organizing the regular gatherings of municipal leaders.
“You never know who’s going to be an asset for you. So constantly look for those people,” Ki Hartsfield said.
White said it was encouraging to see what has been accomplished in Glenwood.
“I think that all small towns, with our few resources and few people, it just takes committed folks to start somewhere and make an effort,” White said. “It’s infectious and it’s contagious. People want to see progress and be a part of something successful.”
The group walked through the Alford building, which was built around 1915 and is Glenwood’s most historic building.
Visitors go through the second floor of the Alford building, which was originally a hotel.
Leslie Mayor Eric Jaeger and his wife, Mary Jaeger, president of the Leslie Merchants Association, previously welcomed many of the same leaders to their city. Like the Hartsfields, the Jaegers also operate a local store.
Mary Jaeger said one aspect of Glenwood’s revitalization that stood out was its ability to form an investment group.
“We have a couple of open buildings, but having people that are willing to take that risk to develop downtown, it’s hard. It’s very hard,” she said.
Jaeger also stressed the importance of festivals in drawing visitors into small communities. Glenwood is preparing for its biggest annual event, the Caddo River Festival over Labor Day weekend, while Leslie is preparing for its Whittlin’ and Fiddlin’ Festival on Sept. 19.
“It’s bringing a part of our heritage of having the whittlers line the downtown. The gentlemen would sit and whittle, and I think that was their old-school Facebook. They’d be able to talk about what’s happening,” Jaeger said. “So having festivals is what has allowed us to even open up more, to bring people in and show them what kind of a gem we have in Leslie.”
Finding people willing to take leadership roles within their communities was another recurring theme.
In addition to her role with the chamber, Kayla Hartsfield serves as president of the board of directors for the nonprofit Glenwood Downtown Network, which is part of Main Street Arkansas. Two fellow board members, Jimmy Kennedy and Kara Oosterhous, also attended the gathering. Hartsfield stressed the importance of their roles in the organization and said she was grateful to have met people willing to become involved.
After spending the morning talking and touring downtown Glenwood, the group picked up sandwiches and headed to a cabin along the Caddo River, one of about two dozen short-term rentals providing overnight accommodations for visitors.
There, Waldron City Council member David Carter said he saw similarities between his community and Glenwood.
“We have the same goal to grow, be sustainable, have a better life and retain our young people,” Carter said. “So it’s encouraging to see that this right here, just this stretch, is amazing. The old buildings, the way they’ve retained the historical look, the original brick and that feel, because we have that in Waldron. We have all the historic buildings. It’s just getting the people together and moving towards that common goal.”
