Bentonville has one of the nicer downtowns that I’ve seen in my travels. It houses Walton’s 5 & 10, Sam’s first dime store, right on the square. Arvest Bank, the Walton family’s bank holding company has redone the north side of the square with a small town feel for their headquarters.
Despite the success of their downtown, Bentonville started a Main Street program two years ago to continue to revitalize it. The Compton Gardens, a botanical garden project conceived and donated to the town by a family doctor in Bentonville who undoubtedly bought Wal-Mart stock early on, lies adjacent to the downtown. Earlier this year, Alice Walton, Sam’s only daughter, announced plans for Crystal Bridges, a multi-million dollar art museum. The Compton Gardens/Crystal Bridges complex will occupy 150 acres of land next to the downtown and improve an already impressive area.
My talk took place at NorthWest Arkansas Community College, a vibrant place that was only started in 1989. With 5,000+ students, it is already the second largest community college in the state. It offers typical community college classes but also specialized ones aimed at Wal-Mart employees and vendors.
This is not a town resting on its laurels. They are constantly pushing the edge of the envelope to continually make themselves a better town.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment