FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Work continues on Fayetteville’s cultural arts corridor project or “The Ramble” which was approved by voters in 2019. Renderings show what the design of a hotel that could be part of the future civic plaza looks like.
The City of Fayetteville says the master plan for the plaza includes a large green space with buildings on the north and south ends.
“We certainly think a civic open space for the public with buildings that help activate that space, that help give a reason for people to come downtown and utilize the space provide a nice compliment to it and actually provide a good bookend to the site,” said Peter Nierengarten.
The hotel that could be on the south end of the plaza closest to the Metro District would include retail and restaurant space and would incorporate art. Peter Nierengarten is the City of Fayetteville’s Environmental Director. He says on the north end there will be another building that the developer is wanting to be a food hall on the bottom floor. The rest of what’s now the parking lot will be an open green space and a stage that could be used for performances and events.
“It has a water feature that will go through it that will bring spring water up from the parking lot through a channel running a diagonal across it. It will have the razorback greenway running across it. It will have shaded areas, it will have sunny areas,” he said.
Phase three of the project comes next. It includes closing the former parking lot and starting construction on the Civic Plaza. The city won't start work on that until the new parking garage opens to replace the almost 300 existing parking spaces. That's expected in the spring or summer of 2023.
“We’re working on the final design right now for the civic space, so to have the development partner there with a building proposal that we can design to, to really finish this space out is pretty exciting so we can ultimately realize the vision of what the voters voted on for the cultural arts corridor project,” he said.
The city expects phase three of this project to be complete by the end of 2024. The proposals for the buildings on the civic plaza still have to be voted on by the Fayetteville City Council. That’s expected to be on the agenda in September.