Editor,
You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t, particularly if you are part of the business community and are trying to make a contribution to community life in Eureka Springs. I am writing in response to the guest editorial in last week’s Independent.
For years I’ve heard complaints from residents of Eureka Springs that the business community cares too little for the interests of residents. We have watched community developments in other towns like Berryville. They’ve had a community swimming pool since the ‘70s. In more recent times, they invested heavily in a full-fledged community center. Haven’t we all wished we had something like that?
Unfortunately, there seems to be no tax money available to support a community center like the one in Berryville, so a team of residents and business people (who are also residents) have been working with the resources we have to convert the old high school to serve as a new center for community activities. That team, working with the school board, formed a foundation and came up with a plan that would largely pay for itself by developing a commerce center on site. If those who oppose that part of the plan can come up with a way to pay for the project without it, I’m sure those ideas would be welcome.
Maybe some would just like to have the old American Legion Hut back. Some may feel that if it was good enough for the ‘70s it’s good enough for now. I disagree. If we want Eureka Springs to be a place where young families will choose to reside, and where the elderly can meet with each other just as they do in Berryville, and where the generations can intermingle to the benefit of all, support of the proposed community center makes sense.
Doug Stowe