downtown visionary
by Susan O'Connor, Photo by Dero Sanford

Kent Arnold is a man of vision. In his 30-plus year career in real estate and property development, he has transformed open fields into luxury golf communities, and built hundreds of homes, streets and infrastructure. Now, he has turned his sights to downtown Jonesboro.

“The vision I have for downtown Jonesboro is to create an open public space — a downtown destination. A place where you decide to go before you choose which restaurant or retail shop you are going to. I see a pedestrian-friendly environment where people will have the right of way. Where bikes are welcomed and strolling is a privilege. A place that offers an eclectic mix of restaurants, lofts, coffee shops, art galleries and specialty retail.

“I see walking and bicycling paths connecting downtown with Arkansas State University and The Mall at Turtle Creek. This will definitely become a reality in the near future. The city was just awarded a $1.7 million grant to make this scenario happen.”

And making this vision a reality is personal to Arnold. He not only lives and works downtown, but he truly wants to make a positive difference in his native city.

“I really feel an obligation to give back to the city,” he said sincerely. “I have lived and worked in Jonesboro for over 40 years. I, along with my children, have attended MacArthur Junior High School and graduated from Jonesboro High School. My high school commencement ceremony was held in the rubble of the original Main Building, which days earlier had been destroyed by the 1973 tornado. My father was a homebuilder and built the Jonesboro Country Club.

Jonesboro has been a wonderful place to raise my children and conduct business for my family. “Downtown Jonesboro is a cherished part of our heritage and happens to be my neighborhood. Now it is my turn to make a difference for the next generation.”

Kent Arnold Real Estate has been a fixture in Jonesboro since 1976. For a number of years his business was located on Caraway Road, but in 2001 he moved his office and construction company downtown. Arnold meshed so well with the downtown atmosphere that in 2008 he and his wife, Jeanne, sold their home and moved into a 4,000-sq.-foot loft above the office.

“I love the hustle and bustle of downtown with people coming and going. I love the ‘live, work and play’ aspect of it all — the brisk walk to the coffee shop in the morning, the friendly postman who walks your mail into your office, the selection, quality and proximity of restaurants, the exchanging of greetings on the sidewalks, enjoying lazy afternoons in the screened-in porch on the roof of the loft while grilling out with my wife.”

A current member of the city’s downtown parking committee, member and past vice president of the Downtown Jonesboro Association, Arnold has been promoting the pedestrian friendly concept since 2002 when he first tried to create an urban park setting by sponsoring the Downtown Concert Series each Friday and Saturday for the summer. The effort lost steam initially, but Arnold is stoking the fires of change.

“Eight thousand cars daily driving 30 to 40 miles-per-hour are traveling down an artery that is six to eight feet narrower than many residential streets,” Arnold said of Main Street. “It’s not if someone is going to get hurt, it’s when. There has got to be a way to make this three-block district safe.”

Arnold pointed out how often he sees mothers with small children trying to navigate their way through the dangerous traffic to The Foundation of Arts. He also noted that four new restaurants are set to open downtown in the next six months, bringing even more congestion to the area.

“That’s about 150 more employees and 600 to 700 more patrons per day.”
So, in September, Arnold lobbied city officials to agree to close a portion of Main Street on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings through the end of October. Police have set up barriers to restrict motorists from entering the pedestrian-friendly zone, and the Downtown Jonesboro Association is providing funding for an off-duty police officer to patrol the area. Arnold’s efforts should be a plus for citizens, as well as downtown businesses. “All I have heard is good things from the public,” Arnold said.

“I envision on the weekends in the future turning downtown Jonesboro into a pedestrian-friendly urban park by simply redirecting the traffic off Main Street onto close alternative routes. I see a safe place where people can come and stroll with their children, daughters walking and visiting with parents, policemen on foot, guitarists and artists on the sidewalks honing their craft and filling the streets with music for locals and visitors to enjoy. I see a local farmers’ market on Saturday mornings. I guess the sky is the limit for possibilities.”

This fall’s pilot program has now ended as winter approaches. “Now we can go back and work to improve it and bring it back next summer during the prime outdoor season and hopefully permanently,” he said.

Part of the improvements, according to Arnold, will come in the form of necessary infrastructure.

“The vision that I have will require the proper infrastructure for success. That includes developing adequate parking, proper handicapped parking, additional park benches, bike racks, restroom facilities, police security and additional lighting. All of these ideas have been discussed at board meetings and parking committee meetings over the past seven years and are quickly becoming a reality. I have certainly found that it takes 10 years to become an overnight success.”

But success comes in many forms and Arnold has found the sweetest success in giving of his time and effort.

“One of the most satisfying things I’ve ever been involved with is philanthropic work,” he said. “You’ll find more value in giving than in anything you will ever do that has a profit motive. There is no better feeling than when you do something without the expectations of anything in return. I personally have found great value in giving back.”