Fort Smith, AR

[Mith242]

Saw some plans for the new Marshals Museum in Ft Smith. Looks like it will be a pretty interesting building. From above it will be in the shape of a marshal's star. Although at street level the ends of the stars are at different heights. Hard to explain without any of the renderings I've seen. But it looks like a pretty interesting building that will stand out. Sounds like they're predicting it will take 5-7 years to raise the estimated $50 Mil.

[zman9810]

Here's some photos from around Fort Smith's downtown. The city went through a major growth period in the 60's and 70's which saw the sprawl that characterizes the city today develop. The downtown area, especially the main drag, Garrison Avenue, was the retail center for the city. That changed when Central Mall drew the retail stores and customers out to the I540/Rogers Avenue area in the late 60's. A major hospital left downtown for that area also. The growth period that had been spurred by manufacturing plants locating in the city ended in the 80's although the city has continued growing slowly since then.

In recent years the downtown has had a rebirth of sorts with many new buildings and renovations occuring. Several companies have set up shop downtown and with several new public works projects being built the area is much nicer than it has been in decades.

1. Garrison Ave. and the heart of downtown- the new buildings have been mostly of the low rise type.

2. The new convention center and one of the new hotels.

3. The National Historic site- the coolest thing about the city. Currently under renovation.

[Mith242]

Oops, I hadn't noticed a new post over here. Unfortunately outside of NWA and central Arkansas, the rest of the state doesn't get much activity. Anyway thanks zman on your pics.