Revitalization: In-between “Rough Area” and “THE Area” Part 1

I intend to make a Part 2 for this post in a year or two – someone remind me. About a year ago we moved into our current home. The Brick House is an old one, restored in such a way that it both retains its character and yet holds a modern flair. This is the genius of my husband and his father, the pair that are also to blame for my newfound wonder of old buildings. I am in awe of structures built when people still seemed to care. These days there are too many mistakes with too many new structures to list – and I’m no expert so I will refrain from attempting.

Jonesboro is a town that does not seem to treasure its old buildings. Downtown is doing okay, but elsewhere the structures are often abandoned or torn down and replaced with structures not half as interesting. In our home, I feel we are not in Jonesboro at all. I feel grateful.

It was more than a year ago another restoration project began: Native Brew Works. Or, “Native” when they are referring to themselves because they aren’t allowed to mention alcohol, at all, until guests are inside their building. Bizarre, no? This is because Craighead is a Dry County. This means only private clubs can sell adult beverages. In many ways Jonesboro is stuck in the past. In other ways, Jonesboro fails to hold onto the past… like tearing down beautiful old buildings that could be restored.

When we were considering moving back to Jonesboro, we asked ourselves, “Could we really live there? Could we give up Tulsa – a city vibrant with culture, entertainment, incredible food, numerous breweries, incredible parks, and a terrific trail system – and move to Jonesboro, a city with ample chain restaurants but only a handful of local gems?” The answer was no, we could not. And yet a few months later we did. We quit our jobs and moved back to Jonesboro to build our dreams.

Someone once said something that stuck with me, “You can enjoy everything a cool place has to offer, or you can be part of making a place cool.”

Well, if we were going to move back to northeast Arkansas, we wanted to make sure we would be part of making it cool.

*A quick side note: this sounds like I’m dumping on Jonesboro, and I am because there is so much to be improved. But the reason we moved back is Jonesboro’s greatest strength – community. There are some really, truly amazing people here. And there are people with vision, working hard to bring the very cool things here that we are trying to bring as well. Those are our people. We’re rooting for them. We’re teammates. We are moving forward.*

Cool places don’t just happen. They’re built by people who work damn hard.

For the past year and a half my husband and our friends have worked damn hard to bring Native Brew Works to life. And they’re getting close. The building where this micro brewery will be located lies just five short blocks from our home. Gee Street, so I’ve been told, was really something in its heyday. It was one of the main thoroughfares, well traveled and full of thriving businesses. Today, there are still several thriving businesses. Our vet, Cato Animal Hospital, and Presley’s Drive-In are among the well-known and respected.

But much of Gee Street has fallen into disrepair. Many in Jonesboro think of this area as a rough part of town. Some, though excited about the brewery, don’t believe Gee Street the best place for it. This frustrates me.

You see, we have a vision. We bought another building on Gee Street and are working to put a coffee house (Story Coffee House) inside. We regularly pick out other buildings, imagining what we would do with them.

Gee Street holds many buildings with life still left to give. Does the whole area need some work? Absolutely. But revitalization doesn’t just happen. Someone has to see the potential and then put in the work.

I am so tired of hearing the objections to Gee Street, however, I feel refueled when we speak to people who DO see our vision. And there are many who do. Many are cheering us on, eager to see the transformation. Even the skeptics are willing to see potential, though I could do with a little more optimism than skepticism.

*Another side note to clarify we want to see this area REVITALIZED, not GENTRIFIED. Gentrification is “the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.” We’re not here to push anyone out. We are here to restore and improve. Revitalization is defined as “the action of imbuing something with new life and vitality”. We want to breathe new life into Gee Street.•

Gee Street is in-between what it once was and what it can be. I hope when I publish Part 2 that the before and after photos prove the doubters wrong and the optimists right. I hope we can see past the in-between, to the gleaming potential of a street revitalized rather than forgotten.