Patriot Park offers low-income housing in Fayetteville
A new low-income housing complex for Veterans in Fayetteville is under construction after a two-year hiatus. Ozarks at Large’s Jacqueline Froelich reports.
Ground was first broken for the new Patriot Park apartment complex on the corner of College and North Street on Sept. 11, 2021, but was disrupted due to inflation-related construction costs and supply chain disruptions. Now, excavators and dump trucks are back on site.
Jim Petty is the co-owner of Strategic Realty. He’s spent 35 years building affordable housing across Arkansas and Oklahoma. Petty also serves as a Republican State Senator for District 29 in Van Buren. He says the original cost was $10.2 million dollars but has risen to $12.4 million dollars.
“The primary source of funding is through the federal income housing tax credit, the the primary source of funding for all affordable housing in the country is driven by the low income housing tax credit or the tax exempt bonds and and low income housing tax credit combination it's it's really the only resources is steadily available every year it's a it's a bipartisan supported program that involves a public private partnership,” Petty said.
Additional funding has been provided by the National Housing Trust Fund, with help from the Federal Home Loan Bank’s Affordable Housing Program. Petty said development design plans have changed from three large buildings to nine smaller buildings to improve access for disabled Veterans.
“There will be 60 units made-up of 24 one-bedrooms, 24 two-bedrooms, and 12 3-bedrooms," Petty said. "The housing itself is is what we'll call a Veteran’s preference, meaning that if something happened and there were only 50 veterans that wanted to live there or that were able to live there, than the other ten could be rented to anyone otherwise eligible based on income levels.”
Rents will range from $275 to $650 per month. Petty is working with the Washington County Veterans Service Office and other area support organizations to spread the word about housing leases becoming available next spring.
Veterans can apply to Patriot Park starting in May,
and an expected move-in date once construction is completed in late August.
Celebrating 25 years of the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum
The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum is celebrating its 75th anniversary by dedicating a time capsule on December 9th. Julie Moncrief is the development director at the RAM, and she says art can be a great way to experience the past, and art can help people do that. A time capsule can do that as well.
“It’s a fun twist that this will help people see how our community and region worked to preserve the arts and celebrate the arts,” Moncrief said.
The contents of the RAM’s Heritage Time Capsule will reflect the era, featuring art pieces, letters, photos and other artifacts from both the museum and members of the community. Michael Hall is the museum’s executive director, and he says the time capsule represents the optimism that the community has for the RAM.
“You know, at the beginning of the 20th century, that was a very optimistic time," Hall said. "Everybody had great plans for the future and everybody was doing things like cornerstones and time capsules and putting the years on the buildings when you were building a building or a house. It was a sense of tremendous pride. And I kind of feel like we captured that story from history, and that’s one of the reasons we are doing a time capsule. It shows how confident that we are that 75 years from now, when they open the thing up, that we’re still going to be here even bigger and better than ever.”
Submissions are being considered through Nov. 24. You can find details on how to submit an item for consideration, as well as the celebration to dedicate the time capsule at the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum.
Razorback soccer falls short of championship
The tenth-ranked Razorback soccer team is again the runner-up at the SEC Tournament. Arkansas fell to Georgia, 1-0 yesterday. The Razorbacks have made it to the tournament final seven times in the last eight years but never won the game. Arkansas is expected to receive a high seed in the NCAA Tournament field, announced today.
Razorback volleyball sweeps Mississippi State
The 8th-ranked Arkansas volleyball team is now 11-2 after a sweep of Mississippi State yesterday afternoon in Fayetteville. They next play at Alabama on Friday night.
Roger's Victory Theater returns
A refurbished Victory Theater in downtown Rogers will open in March. The first performer in the re-opened theater will be jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Metheny has released more than 50 albums and been awarded 20 Grammy Awards.
