In 2017, the Bentonville, Ark., Parks and Recreation Department developed a visionary plan to connect six different public parks and spaces into one cohesive downtown area. Those spaces, known individually as Lawrence Plaza, Bentonville Square, Dave Peel Park, Town Branch Park, The Commons and Activity Center Park, will soon be connected and form one linear park that is currently referred to as the “A Street Promenade.”

The catalyst for the project was the collective voice of the community. Citizens were invested in seeing their downtown area revitalized and explicitly connected so that it could be used for more than just average, day-at-the-park-type outings. Members of the community worked directly with the parks and recreation department to express ideas for more child-centered play areas, city event spaces, small business locations, walking and biking paths and beautiful scenery for the proposed outdoor recreation area.

Deputy director of the parks department, Josh Stacey, expressed how integral the citizenry was to the planning of the project.

“We had a lot of meetings with the community over a long span of time. We also spent a lot of time speaking with the business owners who were already existing in the downtown area, to consider their perspectives. Overall, the community has had a very strong voice in this. We continue to keep them updated as the project develops.”

There is a 24/7 live stream available so interested individuals can view the project in real-time. “We were offered the ability, so we said why not? We want to be transparent with our citizens, and people love to see that this project is progressing,” Stacey said. “Anyone can tune into the live stream from their mobile devices and view the present ongoings of the project firsthand and see the evolution of the cityscape as it develops.”

Despite an already vibrant downtown featuring delicious restaurants and busy businesses, the need to expand and enhance the dynamic became increasingly evident. Stacey discussed some of the key factors that went into the planning of this big undertaking.

“We are not really changing the dynamic of downtown; we are trying to make these spaces more cohesive so that the areas connect to each other and so that people can safely walk and ride to all of these spaces. Connectivity and public spaces were some of our big considerations when we were developing the plans.”

Funding for the undertaking was provided by the Walmart Foundation, which was developed to support and strengthen communities along with creating opportunities for diverse people to thrive and actively work toward creating a sustainable nation. The Bentonville Parks and Recreation Department submitted a strong application that quickly captured the attention of the foundation, which said it was excited to fund the entire project. That meant the project would not be a burden on local taxpayers, another positive aspect for the community.

Since the endeavor is a long-term process, there will not be a formal grand opening of the individual parks or of A Street Promenade. Stacey said the main features of A Street Promenade should be complete by 2025, and the parks department will continue to expand and improve the downtown area from now until 2027.

Each portion of the overall project is being completed in phases that will open individually as they are completed so the public will have immediate access to the new spaces.

Stacey recognized that they are currently waiting on other outside factors to keep the project moving.

“For one thing, we don’t want to remove the current downtown parking, so we are having a new parking garage built before getting started on some other elements – just as an example.” Parks and Recreation Department officials realized they did not want the large-scale project to disrupt the current flow of the city, so they developed intentional plans to build additional parking features to ensure \citizens are still able to access the main park areas without disruption. While the project is a big undertaking for the city, that fact has not stopped it from continuing to develop additional plans to continue enhancing other community spaces. Stacey said, “We are also currently under construction on a new baseball complex and about 30 miles of walking trails will be added to the community in the next few years. In the summer, we will be adding an activity center downtown for adult recreation as well.”

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