Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Oct. 12, 2024 – What started as a building safety concern has developed into a financial concern for business owners in downtown Jonesboro.
The awareness of a bulge on the side of the former Citizen’s Bank building caused a flurry of activity on Sept. 25. More than just a few officials descended quickly on the intersection of Main and Washington to confirm a protrusion on the side of the vacant building that has towered over downtown for decades.
Barricades were placed on Main Street in the interest of public safety, preventing vehicles and pedestrians from traveling north on the Street. Two weeks later, the barricades remain, diverting traffic and dollars in different directions.
As business owners await a resolution to the situation, many report dramatic impacts on their stores, restaurants and more.
“It’s scary,” said Ramey Myers, who owns The Parsonage with her husband, John Myers. “Sales are down 40%,” John Myers confirmed. “We’re not a franchise, so I don’t have a hundred other stores that can cover my slack week.”
Eric Roberts, who owns Scoops, said his business has also dropped off.
“Public safety trumps me having good business,” Roberts said. “As a taxpayer, I would rather have my city safe and not have buildings falling apart. But if they’re closing Main Street for it to be safe, until the building is fixed…the building hasn’t been fixed in decades. So, that means Main Street would be closed for decades? That’s just absurd.”
As far as restaurants go, the slowdown makes it hard for employees too. One server, who requested anonymity, at a different Main Street restaurant spoke about a drastic decline in tips for her and her co-workers. ”
On a normal week, we might make $500 (in tips),” she shared. “Now, most of us are barely making $200 a week. A lot of us have had to get second or third jobs. Everybody thinks that Main Street is closed.”
In an effort to help, the city recently announced a traffic pattern change where motorists could still access Main Street. Drivers turn left on Washington at the barricade, turn right on Madison, turn right on Huntington, then turn left on Monroe to get to Main Street.
“[The traffic pattern change] is too confusing. I just don’t think that’s really helped,” Ramey Myers said. “Right now, we’re just depending on downtown people that can walk to us.” John Myers agreed. “We do appreciate the people that come in. The people that are making an effort. Those little gestures mean a lot.”
Ramey added, “The mayor did come in last week with his entire staff, and that was a huge, wonderful gesture.”
But the feeling among the owners is the same: action is needed on the part of city leaders, lawyers, property owners, banks…everyone involved. Something has got to give.
“They either have to step up their timetable or figure stuff out quick. They can’t just be shutting Main Street until the (building) owners feel like they need to step in,” Roberts said.
John Myers said he is ready for a resolution, and it needs to come soon.
“Is this the end of downtown?” he asked. “That’s my question.
On Friday, the City announced the recommended debris protection wall to protect the First Horizon Building across the street has been completed.
“Currently, plans are being laid out to stabilize the Citizens Bank Building precast sections and panels,” Mayor Harold Copenhaver said in a news release. “City officials are working with engineers on the design of that work, and we expect to have the plan early next week, along with an estimated timeline for completion.”
The city will also send the cost estimate of the stabilization work to the parties associated with the property, as well as a prompt deadline to obtain a firm under contract for the prescribed work.
“Any city funds spent on the project will be documented and billed to the building owners,” Copenhaver said. “Our primary concern is making the building safe, supporting downtown businesses and getting that intersection reopened. If the building owners do not take the immediate recommended action, the city will.”