Well, some comedian, I think it was Rodney Dangerfield, said “I don’t get no respect,” and after reading another one of the comment pieces covering every area of the state except South Arkansas, I know how old Rodney feels. So get ready for the biggest “homer” piece since Orville Henry wrote about the 1964 Hogs. I figure, if I don’t toot the South Arkansas’s horn, who will? And a note to other writers, it’s capital South not south, like Lower California. Honk! Honk!
You know, it’s like South Arkansas doesn’t even exist. It’s ignored by writers and TV weathercasters cut us off, because that’s just the way things have always been in Arkansas. That’s right, because the praises toward Little Rock, Jonesboro, and NW Arkansas say quality-of-life has to do with getting bigger, and the future of a better quality-of-life is all about growing, adding population, and creating more jobs, which means more people and more people and more people. Is that really what quality-of-life is all about? And since we’re on the low end of the grow, grow category, we’re treated as if L A (Lower Arkansas) is reverting back to territorial status, and we’re one step away from being a wilderness again. Will the last one to leave L A please turn out the lights?
Yes, you’re right, I don’t think bigger with more people equals a better quality-of-life. Here in El Dorado, where it’s 5 minutes from everywhere, instead of being stuck in clogged roads where your workday is 9 plus hours instead of 8, and that extra hour, or, if there is a fender bender 2 or 3 hours, is the most stressful of your day is not quality. If we are committed to quality rather than quantity, then we gain quality points for being 5 minutes from everywhere. That’s right, and quality is not about just being bigger, but being better, and being better means having a more rewarding life with as little stress as possible, so give us some quality-of-life points for being 5 minutes from everywhere.
Here in El Dorado we’re not just 5 minutes from our home to our workplace or Walmart, we’re 5 minutes from the best deer hunting in the state (check out the top tagged deer if you don’t believe me) and of course our heavily wooded countryside laced with rivers, lakes and streams makes L A a hunting and fishing paradise. Compare that to the big three, Little Rock, Jonesboro, and NW Arkansas. How many quality-of-life points do we get for living in the truly natural part of the state? Plenty!
Of course, El Dorado has the best downtown in the mid-south and that’s not bragging. It is just a fact. There’s not even a close second to El Dorado’s downtown. Tree lined streets, quality restaurants, and an entertainment venue all in easy walking. Of course, if you have kids who would relish a water park, come to El Dorado, which has the largest children’s playground-water-park in the state, which is also a short walk from our award winning downtown—-More quality-of-life points.
I guess you might wonder about educational opportunities especially if you have several kids, and they all want and need a college education. Let’s look at a typical Arkansas family with four kids, who all want to attend college and possible do graduate work. Okay, let’s put those four kids in college for five years. Do the math! You are going to need something around $200,000 just for tuition—-unless you live in the El Dorado School District, where your kid’s college tuition is paid, courtesy of Murphy Oil, made possible by a $50,000,000 education grant. So, if your kids graduate from the new state-of-the-arts El Dorado High School, the El Dorado Promise pays your tuition, based on the top tuition of any non-private school in the state, and you can go to any accredited school in the country. Do we get any quality-of-life points for that? You bet we do.
Like to play golf? El Dorado has three courses, including the best in the state, Mystic Creek, and that ranking is the consensus of touring pros. Come try out Mystic Creek—-if you’re good enough. Of course, if you’re a golfer, that’s bonus quality of-life-points.
But maybe you’re taken with historic buildings that surround the biggest and best looking courthouse in the state, where the entire downtown is a historic district. Of course, the oil gusher that changed a sleepy farm and timber community of 3500 people that cold day in January of 1921 made it possible to have that gorgeous courthouse, three magnificent churches, and a college quality football stadium. That oil money also created some of the best neighbors a community could ever imagine having in Murphy USA, Murphy Oil, Deltic-Potash, Systems Contracting, and Delek Refining. Companies that have and continue to give to their community. Do we get quality-of-life point for having good corporate citizens? You bet we do!
Well, I haven’t directly mentioned MAD (the Murphy Arts District), but get ready to be overwhelmed. MAD is a work in progress. The District is adjacent to El Dorado’s downtown, which makes a visit to our historic downtown complete. Of course, everything is an easy walk from downtown to the Griffin Restaurant or the Griffin Amphitheater, or maybe PlayScape. Well, that’s just Phase One of the El Dorado Festivals and Events ambitious + $100,000,000 destination project. As I write this a 70 room boutique hotel is rising from a parking lot just across the street from what will be a great addition to Arkansas art scene, an impressive four level art museum, and next door to the new art museum will be a total renovation of Arkansas wonderful art deco movie theater, the Rialto, which will be a glistening Broadway playhouse. Do we get quality-of-life points for MAD? Yes, double points.
The MAD project has a core goal, which is to attract visitors, and for a town to become a visitors destination, and ultimately a place that would attract skilled workers to relocate, it must have several qualities, and the addition of the MAD will give South Arkansas a boost in that direction. Phase one has already added to the mix of attractions by solving the lack of quality entertainment with the Griffin Cabaret, First Financial Music hall, and Griffin Amphitheater. Excellent entertainment is now a weekly occurrence and from Hank Williams Jr to the South Arkansas Symphony there is top quality entertainment for every taste.
When Phase Two is finished the twenty-block core of downtown El Dorado, an entertainment district, will have all the features that today’s skilled workers are looking for, and all of those items, including the new El Dorado Conference Center and the South Arkansas Community College, a top quality college experience, are located so close together that they are an easy walk from one to the other. Contrast that to packed eight lane freeways with hour long commutes and our 5 minutes from everywhere looks better and better. Is South Arkansas loaded with quality-of-life points? —-What do you think?
Richard Mason is a registered professional geologist, downtown developer, former chairman of the Department of Environmental Quality Board of Commissioners, past president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, and syndicated columnist. Email richard@ gibraltarenergy.com.