LITTLE FLOCK, Ark. — The Little Flock City Hall demolition began on the morning of Monday, July 1.
The historic building was just one of the city buildings hit by the Memorial Day weekend tornadoes. The storms also damaged the fire and street departments, along with some city vehicles.
Upon assessing the damage, Mayor Jeff Van Sickler said the city hall would have to be rebuilt entirely. The new building is planned to be built in the same location.
The mayor released the following statement regarding the demolition:
"The demolition of Little Flock City Hall began this morning. Words cannot express the wide array of emotions that our staff & citizens feel at this moment. History is being erased and being made simultaneously. I really don't know what else to say, but I wanted to share this picture I captured this morning. I think it says it all."
“History is being demolished and made all at the same time, and it's a little emotional. It's a little overwhelming,” said Little Flock Van Sickler.
Much of the Little Flock community has similar feelings seeing the familiar landmark gone.
“You still take a moment of pause and realize for those especially that have worked here 10-20 years, it's been their day in, day out, and now it's gone,” Van Sickler said.
Tanya Smith has lived in Little Flock for 10 years, driving past city hall nearly every day.
“It’s a very important part of our community,” Smith said. “Our city hall works from there, clearly, our city council and our wonderful police department, as well as our mayor and his staff … It’s been there for as long as we've known Little Flock.”
Looking back on May 26, Smith and Van Sickler both remember the initial shock.
“The morning of the devastation, we couldn't even get here,” Van Sickler said. “It took us a day before we could even get the roadways cleared up to make it here. On arrival, seeing the tree laying in the city hall, it was just a lot to take in.”
They also remember how the small community came together. Smith reflected on how neighbors went out of their way to help each other.
“Our neighbors are our friends, and we are here to support one another, and that was never so evident as the morning after the tornadoes, first with people calling to check on each other, and then the chainsaws starting and people taking off work and tirelessly helping one another day after day after day,” Smith said.
Just over a month later, the community is still helping each other rebuild.
In the meantime, city employees are working out of the Little Flock Fire Station until they’re able to temporarily move their offices into a storage building donated by the City of Springdale.
As they transition to the next steps, Van Sickler said they’re looking to the future.
“Thank you for being patient and bearing with us during the cleanup,” Van Sickler said. “Those times, I believe, now are pretty much behind us, and now it's moved forward on to rebuild.”
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