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August 6th, 2010
I feel that the street closure of South Johnson Street that took place back in late 2009 has been a complete failure ! In late 2009, the city voted to close South Johnson Street in order to test out the new city amphitheater. Originally members of the Hardy City Council met at a special meeting to discuss the closing down of the street for a period of one year!
During that meeting, Hardy Mayor Nina Thornton said “the reason for shutting down the street was to accommodate the new stage that has been purchased by the Advertising and Promotions Committee. She said the building, purchased from Bald Eagle Barns will give the public a place to watch various artists, musicians and other talent.”
Thornton said that by closing the street for a period of one year, the city will be given enough time to determine if the amphitheater is going to be successful. If, at the end of the year, it is successful, the city will permanently close the street.
Well… I can speak from my own personal experience in addition to many others in the area…the Amphitheater or as we now refer to it the (Empty-theater) has not only had minimal usage since the closing of the street. Here we are currently in the busiest tourist time of Summer and nothing is planned for the amphitheater. The official Hardy website shows nothing scheduled for the stage. You can view the events here. Now, on the new Kait8 DiscoverHardy weather page that can be viewed here it mentions at the top right of the page for the 2010 Calendar: a Farmers Market taking place every Saturday. Haven’t seen the first one take place yet! Now to be fair, some events have taken place, but the turn out has been few, and it could just have easily taken place in the small gazebo right next to the street in the city park or in the bigger pavilion at Loberg Park. So, why loose a whole street for the few times it has been used?
Additionally, and most importantly, we also lost an important access point for tour buses to use to access the parking lot area south of the street! It is a shame that we already have a wonderful area park along the beautiful Spring River called Loberg Park that as we have said has a wonderful pavilion for shows and bands. Plus why not take advantage of tha fact our town is right on the Spring River..hello!! Maybe more events based on river themes are in order!
Lets hope the City of Hardy realizes its mistake and once the year is up, gives us our street back !!! Until then, feel free to express your thoughts below in comments section.
- The views of this article are not necessarily the views of Friends Of Hardy Arkansas but were submitted by individuals with an interest in our community
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7 Responses to “Give Us Our Street Back !”
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I never understood why they decided to close the street in the first place. The bolders blocking it look terrible and all the times I have been up on the weekends hardly ever see any events taking place in the so called Amphitheater.. which is really just a storage building with the side wall cut out ! I hope the city didn’t spend to much money on this idea !
The few times I have been through the area I never saw anything happening on that stage. I wish it would have maybe some local musicians playing or something. The idea seems good, but if its not being used..why have it blocking the street.
I’d like to give some credit to the A&P committee and Mayor for a forward thinking idea. The idea to set up a stage for activities in Hardy is a good one. But, its an idea that hasn’t been played to its fullest potential. At whatever the expense to the city, the stage has yet to be publicized as a ‘happnin’ thing in Hardy. We, the Merchants’ are clueless as to what the city has planned for the stage, but, we would like to know, so that we can support it.
If there is no ‘plan of execution’, then how can one create a plan or excitement for Hardy.
It is unfortunate that those who know the least have the power to make decisions that affect the whole community without seeking real input from people in the area with background and experience in sound and stage development. Typical of the A & P, the stage and closing of the street represents high expense with little value to the community. A single “special meeting” by the city council is an inadequate forum to make such a major change. It is regrettable that the council rubber stamps such ideas without real understanding or concern for the impact.
I would like to know where I can find the list of events that are planned for Hardy’s new ” Amphitheater ” so that I may fight the terrible heat and attempt to keep a chair stable enough to sit and enjoy the well thought out events that HAD to be planned prior to spending all that money and actually shutting down a street.
Please post the scheduled events on this website for it is by far the most well maintained and imformative site for our area.
Thanks
I’d like to thank the city though for making the landscaping of “theater lane” look nice. The grasses are coming in nicely and it makes the street look good. Well done! I’d also like to know what the events schedule is as I get many questions in regards to musical entertainment from the guests and visitors who come to my store. As for the farmers market every saturday…hasn’t happened…yet. I’d like to see it happen though, as I’d like to be able to conveniently purchase fresh produce from local people. This would not only provide fresh food to my table, but it would allow me to have an additional outlet for me to spend my locally made dollars. I enjoy spending the earnings from my business locally, thereby helping other business owners business and create a better local economy. Thats how it works folks. Doing business locally, allows local businesses to also do business locally. Thanks Sharp Office Supply for bringing my last office supply order to my store. Its nice to have local delivery from a local business who appreciates my business.
Marc Herring
Ozark Classic Crafts Mall
FOHA (Friends of Hardy Arkansas)
Why not relocate the stage and use it for summer programs for the children in the area. Like for plays that the community would then be able to come out and see. Just a thought.. but please open up that street for us visitors to use for parking lot access.