by Michael Hibblen | Sep 29, 2026 | Arkansas News
University of Arkansas Board of Trustees Chairman Randy Lawson, left, hands a medallion to UA System President Jay Silveria to place on UAMS Chancellor Dr. C. Lowry Barnes during an investiture ceremony Tuesday in Little Rock. Photo: Michael Hibblen
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Chancellor Dr. C. Lowry Barnes was invested Tuesday in the Harry P. Ward Chancellor’s Distinguished Chair during a ceremony that brought together state, university and health care leaders.
Philanthropist Alice Walton and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were among those who praised Barnes during the ceremony at the Fred W. Smith Conference Center on the main UAMS campus in Little Rock.
The investiture marked another milestone for Barnes, a nationally recognized orthopaedic surgeon whose association with UAMS dates back more than four decades. He became interim chancellor in July 2025 after the departure of Chancellor Cam Patterson. Following a national search in which Barnes was one of four finalists, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees approved UA System President Jay B. Silveria’s recommendation in February to make Barnes the university’s next chancellor.
“Lowry Barnes is, without a doubt, one of the most energetic and visionary leaders UAMS has had in its proud history,” Silveria said. “As chancellor, Dr. Barnes has spearheaded efforts to grow UAMS’ reach and revenue, create a sustainable and self-sufficient health care system, increasing research funding, accelerating philanthropic funding, increasing employee wages, and working with his executive leadership team to create a culture of hospitality.”
During his remarks, Barnes outlined his vision for UAMS, including efforts to expand the institution’s reach across Arkansas and help preserve hospitals in rural areas.
Many hospitals in smaller towns and cities have closed in recent years. Barnes said UAMS is working on agreements to partner with facilities facing financial challenges to help ensure they remain open. Discussions are ongoing, and because of nondisclosure agreements, he could not identify the hospitals involved.
“This institution that was a one-hospital system six months ago will likely be a 10-hospital system in a couple of years,” Barnes said. “We think it’s important that we continue to work across the state and provide the care that’s so needed.”
Barnes acknowledged that such expansion might make members of the UA Board of Trustees nervous, but said UAMS has a responsibility to improve health care statewide and ensure communities are not left behind.
“When you’re looking at a hospital that’s delivering 500 babies a year and is on the brink of closure, we have to save them,” Barnes said to applause. “This state cannot afford to have more hospitals close that deliver babies.”
Barnes also discussed the expansion of UAMS clinics around the state, including a new location scheduled to open Thursday in Bryant.
A partnership between UAMS and Jefferson Regional in Pine Bluff will begin Oct. 1. Barnes said the hospital has personal significance because it was the first hospital where he worked, serving as an orderly.
“Obviously, that has a lot of meaning to me,” Barnes said. “It is a place we’re gonna make a difference, and I think you’ll see that it’s gonna be a great relationship for Jefferson Regional.”
Barnes said he has developed a seven-year plan for what he wants UAMS to accomplish by 2033. Among his priorities are retaining employees by raising wages and training more medical students to eventually help address a physician shortage.
Another priority was keeping the Proton Center at UAMS operating after financial losses had put its future in doubt. Barnes said the highly specialized cancer treatment it provides needs to remain available in Arkansas.
“It’s the most challenging health care deal I’ve ever seen, and so we worked on it for months,” Barnes said. “Fortunately, we were able to work it out with the bondholders, and it will become the UAMS Proton Center and be a part of our institution now.”
Barnes graduated with honors from the UAMS College of Medicine in 1986 and remained at UAMS for his internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery. He later completed a fellowship in adult reconstructive and arthritis surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Sanders said Barnes could have practiced anywhere in the country but chose to return home to Arkansas.
“Forty years after walking these halls as a medical student, Dr. Barnes now leads them,” Sanders said. “He’s the medical school’s first chancellor who is both a native Arkansan and practicing surgeon.”
Barnes entered private practice as a joint replacement surgeon and eventually became president and managing partner of Arkansas Specialty Orthopaedics, a position he held for more than a decade. He returned to UAMS in 2014 as professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
In 2017, Barnes was invested in the Carl L. Nelson, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery. He also became founding director of The Orthopaedic and Spine Hospital, which opened on the UAMS campus in 2023.
Walton, who founded the nonprofit Heartland Whole Health Institute in 2019 and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in 2021, thanked Barnes for his leadership. She said he instinctively understands the power of collaboration and working toward a healthier future.
“None of us can accomplish our biggest goals alone, and the best solutions always come from diverse people coming together and working together,” Walton said. “Whether we’re talking about improving health outcomes, educating the next generation of physicians, advancing research or expanding access to care, lasting progress only happens when we work together around a shared purpose.”
The chair Barnes received Tuesday is named for Harry P. Ward, M.D., who served as UAMS chancellor from 1979 until 2000 and oversaw a period of major expansion at the institution.
Ward is credited with helping transform UAMS from a relatively small medical school and charity hospital into an academic health center and research institution. During his tenure, UAMS’ physical size increased fivefold, research funding grew substantially and more than $200 million in major construction projects were completed.
The Harry P. Ward Chancellor’s Distinguished Chair was created in 2005 and was the first chancellor’s chair endowed at an Arkansas university. Former Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson was its inaugural recipient, followed by Daniel W. Rahn and Patterson. Barnes is the fourth UAMS chancellor to hold the chair.
The chair was established with a $1 million lead gift from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation and additional donations that brought its endowment to $2.5 million. Income from the endowment is available to the chancellor to help recruit faculty and administrators.
This story was reported for Talk Business & Politics and The Pine Bluff Commercial.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
by Michael Hibblen | Sep 20, 2026 | Arkansas News
A National Guard helicopter drops water on the Bunker Fire in Calhoun County on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Photo: Arkansas National Guard
Crews worked through the weekend to extinguish hot spots from a wildfire near a Camden industrial park where several military contractors are located.
As of Friday night, the Arkansas Department of Agriculture reported the Bunker Fire was 75% contained after burning more than 2,800 acres.
State and federal resources were called in to battle the blaze, which began Monday near Highland Industrial Park.
Arkansas National Guard helicopters have been used to drop thousands of gallons of water at a time on the fire. Additional support from National Guard crews from Oklahoma and Mississippi continued through the weekend. The out-of-state crews were expected to remain through Monday.
Camden Municipal Airport reported Saturday night that 59 bucket drops had been completed that day, delivering an estimated 83,200 gallons of water. On Friday, 97 drops were made, dumping more than 100,000 gallons of water.
Crews have worked long hours since the fire began, often through the night. Beginning Tuesday, bulldozers were used to create firebreaks around the blaze, removing dry vegetation that could fuel the fire.
“A fire break, essentially, is putting a gap in between one section of the forest and the other,” Arkansas National Guard Staff Sgt. Christian Clark said in a video statement on Wednesday. “The fuel is anything that can burn all the dry leaves, all the pine needles, the trees. So you’re just trying to push up everything, and just leaving exposed dirt, get rid of all the roots, and trying to stop [the fire] from being able to jump.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Bunker Fire. Such grants can reimburse eligible firefighting costs, including expenses for personnel, equipment and supplies. Calhoun and Ouachita counties were designated for assistance.
No injuries or property damage have been reported.
On Friday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that $750,000 from the Governor’s Disaster Response and Recovery Fund would be available to the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management for the state’s response to wildfires.
The entire state remained at high wildfire danger as of Sunday, with dry conditions allowing fires to ignite easily and spread quickly. Burn bans were in place in 70 of the state’s 75 counties, including every county in the southern half of Arkansas.
This story was written for the Fordyce News-Advocate.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
by Michael Hibblen | Jul 31, 2026 | Arkansas News, Rock Island Railroad
The former Rock Island Railroad depot in Hazen is shown on May 4. The city, which now owns the historic depot, has not yet determined how it will be used. Photo by Michael Hibblen
I wrote this story for The Grand Prairie Herald newspaper in Hazen, which was published on July 28.
The latest round of restoration work on Hazen’s historic Rock Island Railroad depot should be finished in the coming weeks, leaving city leaders with a new challenge: deciding how the century-old landmark should be used.
Mayor David Hardke said the city has invested heavily in preserving the depot and wants to ensure it remains in good condition while also finding a purpose that allows the public to enjoy and appreciate it.
“I’m very protective of it right now because we’ve spent quite a bit of money last year and this year,” Hardke said. “But I want it to be a historical structure that people can see. It’ll take you back in time, of course.”
The depot, which was constructed in 1915, is today owned by the city. When it opened, the line through Hazen was part of an important route for the Rock Island that carried passenger trains between Memphis and Amarillo, Texas. The shipping of freight was also extremely important.
The current phase of work addressed drainage and foundation problems on the east side of the building, where a freight room once stood.
“It was slanted a little bit toward the building, which allowed water that stood there to seep into the understructure, and that caused a major problem,” Hardke said. “With grant funds, we were able to raise that level outside on the east side of the building and use concrete to divert water away from the building.”
The project also included refinishing the depot’s hardwood floors and repainting interior walls. Work remains to be completed in two bathrooms and a small utility room.
The interior of the former white waiting room at the Hazen Rock Island Depot. Built in 1915, the station was legally required to feature racially segregated passenger spaces under Arkansas’ Jim Crow laws. Photo: Michael Hibblen
Rock Island memorabilia is currently in the projecting telegrapher’s booth of the depot. Photo: Michael Hibblen
A future phase of work, which will be covered by another grant, will modernize the depot’s electrical wiring.
“It’s pretty scary,” Hardke said.
Additional exterior lighting will also be installed to improve security and safety.
History of the depot
The Rock Island depot was built in 1915 as Hazen was experiencing significant agricultural and economic growth. It replaced an earlier depot built in the 1870s by the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, which was the first railroad to operate in Arkansas.
Following the decline of passenger rail service after World War II, the last regularly scheduled passenger train came through Hazen in November 1967. The Rock Island donated the depot to the city in the 1970s, but it sat vacant for years until the boarded-up structure looked like it was about to collapse.
According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, former Mayor Kathryn Orlicek led efforts to raise money for its restoration, which began in 1987. The freight room was too deteriorated to save, although its brick façade remains. That same year, the depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Volunteers worked to restore the depot in 1987 after it had fallen into disrepair. Photo: Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
The interior of what was the white passenger waiting room of the Hazen depot as work to restore it was underway in 1987. Photo: Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
Although the restoration work is nearly complete, Hardke said the city has not settled on a long-term use for the building.
In recent decades, the depot has served as a community meeting space and tourist information center. But Hardke said a key concern was that frequent public use also resulted in wear and tear. While he wants the building to remain accessible, he envisions a use that generates less foot traffic.
“I’ve been asked, can there be community meetings there like the Chamber of Commerce? I suppose so because we don’t have a place now for those types of meetings, although we do have the community center, which has a couple of rooms that would be available for meetings,” he said. “I’ll admit, I have not worked out a plan for the building.”
One possibility could be tying the depot to a broader recreational project. Hardke has discussed with state officials the idea of converting part of the former Rock Island Railroad right of way into a rails-to-trails system, similar to projects elsewhere that have become popular destinations for walking and bicycling.
After the railroad tracks were removed, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission acquired about 14 miles of the former right of way between Carlisle and DeValls Bluff, except for several miles acquired by the city of Hazen. In 1987, the land became the Railroad Prairie Natural Area to preserve remnants of the native Grand Prairie tallgrass ecosystem, which provides a habitat for several rare species.
Hardke said he has discussed the idea with the commission’s director, Dr. Jennifer Ballard.
“She thought it sounded interesting,” he said. “She presented it to those above her, and they thought, ‘You know, that does sound like a good idea.’ It had been thought about for years, but it just never got off the ground.”
Exactly how the depot would fit into such a project remains uncertain. For now, Hardke said his goal is to see the building open to visitors on a regular basis instead of remaining locked much of the time.
“It’s just a wonderful, wonderful old building that’s in pristine shape right now,” he said.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
by Michael Hibblen | Jun 14, 2026 | Arkansas News, Arkansas Politics
Actor and director Kevin Costner testified about the importance of preserving and funding national parks and public lands during a field hearing Friday of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. Photo: Michael Hibblen
Just outside of Hot Springs National Park, a field hearing was held Friday by members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources who heard testimony and advocacy for passage of the Great American Outdoors Act 250. The bipartisan bill would reauthorize a law passed by Congress in 2020 that was designed to protect public lands and repair aging infrastructure.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, who chairs the committee, invited members from around the country to his district. He noted that 40 years before Yellowstone was designated as the United States’ first national park, Congress protected the thermal waters of Hot Springs in 1832. That created “America’s first federal reservation of a natural resource, making Hot Springs the birthplace of what a lot of people call ‘America’s best idea.’ Today, Hot Springs serves as a powerful example of what can happen when federal investment, local leadership and private partnerships come together.”
Westerman and Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California, introduced the reauthorization bill Wednesday. The measure would expand on the 2020 legislation, which Westerman said represented the largest investment in public lands infrastructure in generations, providing long-overdue resources to address deteriorating trails, campgrounds, visitor facilities and historic structures.
In Arkansas, Westerman said more than $52 million has been invested in projects at Hot Springs National Park, the Buffalo National River and the Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge.
“Those investments have improved visitor access, strengthened recreational opportunities and supported some of our state’s most treasured public lands,” Westerman said, adding that “record visitation continues to place new demands on aging infrastructure.”
The new legislation builds on the successes of the original law, he said, while addressing lessons learned through its implementation. Deferred maintenance over several decades is also a problem that Westerman said still has not been rectified.
“While inflation and rising construction costs may make needed repairs even more expensive, we have also learned important lessons about how these funds are allocated, how projects are selected, how agencies measure deferred maintenance and how we can better leverage partnerships to stretch taxpayer dollars even further,” Westerman said.
The legislation would invest $1.9 billion annually in national parks, public lands and Bureau of Indian Education facilities for the next five years. Funding would come from private donations, onshore energy revenue and new fees paid by foreign visitors.
Among those who testified during the hearing was actor and director Kevin Costner, who has long advocated for preserving national parks, largely through his documentary films. He spoke about growing up in a family that did not have the money to travel to major tourist destinations, but made annual drives to national parks.
“We could afford the gas to get us to the mighty sequoias, the high Sierras, to Yosemite. It was better than Paris, at least for a kid with my imagination. We could fish in a lake, sleep in a tent next to a stream, wake up to the smell of bacon and an open fire. It seemed wild,” Costner said.
“What always struck me, but I couldn’t articulate as a child, was that it never changed. It was undisturbed. It was comforting to know when I came back, it would look the same every time. It was perfect,” Costner said. “Nature doesn’t need a lot of help being perfect. But getting to this spot would not have been impossible without a road, a marked trail, even our campsite was the perfect distance from the next camper.”
That infrastructure is critical to ensuring visitors have good experiences in parks, Costner said, but the signs of deferred maintenance are becoming increasingly apparent.
He also spoke of the role of explorer, geologist and physician Ferdinand Hayden, who led the first government survey of the Yellowstone region in 1871 and advocated for preserving the area. The following year Yellowstone was established as the nation’s first national park.
“The odds of that happening in the area and the era lived, and the forces that stood against it, at a time when America’s natural resources were up for grabs, free to be exploited, with little or no regard for the future — it was zero. But he did it,” Costner said. “He had a vision and the courage to champion preservation over profit.”
Nature remains vulnerable, he said, which is why he supports the legislation.
“While visitations continue to grow, many of our parks are struggling with aging roads, deteriorating trails, outdated water systems, historic buildings in need of repair and staffing shortages that make it increasingly difficult to protect these resources and serve the public. We need the people who care for these places,” Costner said. “There’s really no better time for us to reaffirm our commitment to these places that tell America’s story. Conservation can’t afford to be a partisan issue.”
In addition to restoring infrastructure, backers of the legislation say it would support 72,500 jobs nationwide and generate $26.4 billion in economic activity for communities neighboring national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and public lands. It also would promote transparency and accountability by streamlining contracting and procurement, expediting project reviews and requiring regular reporting.
Others testifying at the hearing included U.S. Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary Kate MacGregor, Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Office of Outdoor Recreation Director Katherine Andrews, and Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Executive Council Member Mike Ward.
The hearing was held at the historic Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa, which sits alongside Hot Springs National Park and provides direct access to the park’s trail system. The landmark hotel, which has hosted several presidents over the last century, has recently undergone extensive renovations.
After the hearing, Westerman acknowledged that despite having bipartisan support, the legislation is far from a done deal.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman speaks with reporters after Friday’s hearing in Hot Springs. Photo: Michael Hibblen
“It’s an act of Congress — there’s always a challenge — but I’m working with our colleagues in the Senate [to build support]. You saw the administration is supportive. It would be great in our 250th anniversary to somehow get this to President Trump to sign by July 4th. That would be a very tall task to happen, but it’s something we all care about and I think it could happen,” Westerman said.
Environmental and conservation groups are supporting the legislation. Audubon Delta Arkansas Policy Manager Glen Hooks said he attended Friday’s hearing to learn details and was “really satisfied and happy” with what he heard.
“Audubon is going to support and endorse this bill because it’s the kind of thing that brings people together. National parks — everybody loves them. You’ve got an Arkansas Republican congressman, you’ve got environmental groups, you’ve got Crash Davis here in favor of this bill,” Hooks said, referencing the baseball player Costner played in the 1988 film Bull Durham.
Hooks said he visited three national parks last month and thanked Westerman for his leadership in bringing this bill forward. He said parks are quickly impacted by staffing or budget cuts.
“You can’t just leave the gates open and let people come in because when you do that, as we saw in the early days of government shutdowns, unfortunately some Americans will come in and vandalize,” Hooks said. “This bill will keep these national treasures intact for years to come, and I think, one of the best things the federal government has ever done is create the National Parks System.”
I reported this story for Talk Business & Politics, The Glenwood Herald and the Fordyce News-Advocate.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
by Michael Hibblen | Jun 7, 2026 | Arkansas History, Arkansas News, Music, Willie Nelson
Thirty years ago, Willie Nelson rolled into Glenwood, Ark. for an appearance on local radio combo KWXI-AM 670/KWXE-FM 104.5. A large crowd of cheering fans showed up with signs and red bandannas. Willie did not disappoint them, making the event on June 9, 1996 one of the most memorable days for the community.
Willie Nelson being escorted inside the Glenwood radio stations by Music/Programming Director Anna Donahue (right) on June 9, 1996. Photo: The Glenwood Herald
Nelson and four longtime members of his band arrived about an hour late aboard a pair of buses named Red Headed Stranger and Honeysuckle Rose III, according to a story by The Glenwood Herald. Stepping off his bus at Reggie Jones Plaza, where the radio studios were located, Nelson waved to the crowd and walked inside with harmonica player Mickey Raphael, rhythm guitarist Jody Payne and piano-playing sister Bobbie Nelson.
“We had to lock the doors, so many people were trying to come in,” former station owner Tom Nichols said this week while recalling the event.
They played live music for about 90 minutes with some banter between each song with Nichols and Music/Programming Director Anna Donahue. Afterward, Nelson ventured into the crowd and “courteously posed for pictures and stayed in the parking lot signing guitars, photographs, bandanas and anything else that was presented to him until no one was left,” the newspaper reported.
What inspired the legendary singer and songwriter to visit the city of less than 2,000 people for the promotional event was a letter from Donahue along with enthusiasm by Nelson for his new album “Spirit.” It had been released five days earlier.
“I talked it over with the band and we decided the best way to sell this album was door to door,” Nelson said on the air.
“Spirit” was his first album for British-based Island Records, which had never released an album by a country performer. It’s a stripped down acoustic record with a Spanish influence. It’s now considered a masterpiece and Nelson has said it’s his favorite album among his own recordings.
According to a story by The Glenwood Herald that ran a few days before Nelson’s visit, Donahue had written a letter the previous year to Waylon Jennings, a member of the supergroup the Highwaymen, which also included Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. The letter was in response to an interview in which they complained that despite strong concert attendance, radio stations were not willing to play new Highwaymen recordings.
She said record labels were only providing promotional copies of CDs to about 300 radio stations. “We would play the fire out of the CDs if we had them,” she wrote, “but our station, like about 2,500 other stations in the country, is not on the right list. We miss the days when radio and artists realized they needed each other and record labels treated radio stations the same.”
She was then contacted by a representative of Nelson in the fall of 1995 to set up the visit to Glenwood the following year as the kick off of a promotional tour for the album. But not everyone was convinced the music icon was really coming. Station owner Nichols says he didn’t believe it at first. “If truth be known, I was also skeptical,” reporter Mike McCoy wrote in his follow up article for the newspaper after Nelson’s visit.
Nelson and his four bandmates first performed every song from his new album. Donahue at one point told Willie that a song he had just played was a “two-box of hankies tear jerker.”
He responded, “Yeah, it’s a real wrist slasher,” to laughter.
Then Nelson began taking requests from listeners calling in and played some of his biggest hits and took. Songs included “You Were Always On My Mind,” “Seven Spanish Angels,” “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” and “Georgia.”
The newspaper described how Nelson “spoke softly, politely and was so modest one would never have known that this man had written songs for Patsy Cline and Faron Young, returned to Texas and stormed the nation from the Armadillo World Headquarters rock palace in Austin, and then gone on to star in movies with such stars as Robert Redford, Jane Fonda and Dian Cannon.”
KWXI/KWXE owners Polly and Tom Nichols pose for a photo with WiIlie Nelson. Photo: Tom Nichols collection
Nelson was originally scheduled to stay overnight in the community. He was to have arrived the night before the radio appearance, staying at Rivers Edge Bed and Breakfast in Caddo Gap. He was also planning to play golf at the Glenwood Country Club. But plans fell through and he and his entourage didn’t arrive until 7:30 a.m. on that Sunday morning. They still spent time at Rivers Edge to relax on the banks of the Caddo River and have lunch.
After the event at the Glenwood radio station was over and the last autograph was signed, Nichols says one bus with Nelson and members of his entourage left for Nashville where he was to attend an awards show. The other bus with members of his band turned back toward Texas where Nelson is based.
The two radio stations, which were once the broadcasting voice of Glenwood, are no longer in the community. After being sold by Nichols, the FM 104.5 signal was moved to Hot Springs where it’s used by a religious broadcaster. The most recent owner of the AM 670 signal, a Texarkana man, ended up in bankruptcy and the station is currently off the air. It’s unclear if the license has been officially surrendered to the FCC.
Now at age 93, Nelson has outlived his contemporaries, continues touring and released his latest album “Dream Chaser” on May 29.
This story was published in the June 5, 2026 issue of The Glenwood Herald. Tom Nichols is trying to find a recording of the broadcast so that we can share that audio here.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
by Michael Hibblen | Jun 4, 2026 | Arkansas News
After being extensively vandalized, only concrete foundations remain of the restrooms and concession stand at what was the primary Glenwood baseball field as seen on May 27. Photo: Michael Hibblen
A community meeting is planned for Monday, June 8 at the dilapidated and vandalized baseball fields in Glenwood which haven’t been used in years. Karen Baker, a supporter of cleaning up the fields so they can again host games, says she wants people interested in volunteering with the project to see the extent of what would need to be done.
Baker was among those speaking on the idea during a Glenwood City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 26. The fields are currently owned, but not used by the Centerpoint School District. Superintendent Jody Cowart and members of the school board attended the meeting, expressing their support for the idea of donating the property, but because of legal requirements, said specific details will first need to be finalized. So far, this is simply in the discussion phase.
“I’ve researched what, from a reality standpoint, the school district can do if this was planned out well enough, where the school board wanted to deed the property over to what has to be an institution of higher education, technical institute, community college or a nonprofit organization, which would obviously be what would apply in this case,” Cowart said. “Is there a structure plan in place where the district or the board would feel comfortable in making that commitment to donating the property?”
Mayor Billy Plyler said residents who have been actively calling for again having ballfields in the city will need to be involved in making it happen. He detailed the extent of vandalism to facilities there, with the concession stand, bathrooms, bleachers and one of the dugouts burned in arson attacks. Lights above the field have also been shot out. Today all that remains of the buildings are their concrete foundations. A scoreboard and advertisements remain along the outfield fence.
“The people that are talking, they’re gonna have to do it because the school board’s not interested in that. They’re gonna basically relinquish the property if things were to go right and we’re gonna have to get active here, get a committee together and go back to the school board with a plan,” Plyler said.
He then opened the meeting for public comments, with Baker saying, “A lot of money is leaving our town for other communities that have ballparks. A lot of people are willing and ready to help when it can happen.”
She hopes to form a nonprofit organization that can pursue grant funding to cover the expense of buying needed supplies. One entity Baker said she has talked with is Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s charitable foundation Blue and You. It promotes health, fitness and wellness, and the proposed nonprofit would be required to show a need for the facility. There are other philanthropic entities that also support such endeavors.
But work repairing the ballfields would need to be completed by volunteers, she said. While there are several overgrown ballfields, which could eventually allow for baseball and softball fields, the effort would initially focus on making the main field again usable. The other fields are across the street. If tournaments are to eventually be held there, it was suggested two fields would be needed.
The baseball fields were originally owned by the Glenwood School District, which was merged in 1995 with the Amity School District, creating what is now the Centerpoint School District.
The proposed nonprofit would own the property, but the city would need to maintain it. Councilman Alan Moore suggested the city could try to find an older retired person who would be paid as a subcontractor to oversee the property. That person would also keep an eye out for any kind of vandalism like what has happened there in the past.
“It would cost the city very little to get back to where we started,” Moore said, adding that having ballfields would be extremely beneficial for the city’s young people.
There was then discussion about how the city would fund the maintenance. A hospitality sales tax on food sold at restaurants was one idea. If a proposal to allow the sale of alcohol in Pike County is approved by voters, that could also be a source. At this point backers of the initiative are gathering signatures and it has not been approved for the November ballot.
Mayor Plyler said it seems like two committees may be warranted, with one focused on the baseball fields and another on local taxes.
A memorandum of understanding would eventually need to be agreed upon by the Centerpoint School District, the city and the potential nonprofit. There are also liability concerns that would need to be resolved.
The community meeting on Monday, June 8 is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The ballfields are located near City Park and the intersection of Park Street and Lakeshore Street.
This story was published in the May 29, 2026 issue of The Glenwood Herald.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
