Chaffee Crossing - Creating Community

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Creating community together at Chaffee Crossing

Photo by Brian Weindel

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ach September for the past few years, this magazine takes a fresh look at Chaffee Crossing, the fastest-growing and most-changing area of Fort Smith. What does it mean to residents of this area? What is life like ‘out there’?

As its residents get to know one another as friends and neighbors, their lifestyle is becoming even more enjoyable.

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A place that once seemed to be frozen as a distant, closed military base now is closely and fully intertwined into Fort Smith life. To think of Chaffee Crossing that way actually gives away one’s age.

It’s a young place to so many folks who now call it home. From many points, a vista of rooftops stretches to the horizon, with their green lawns and attractive exteriors in almost 40 different, named residential developments. Even the oldest residences were mostly built under a span of 25 years. A new home seems to be completed every week, going strong in 2020 when other sectors of business slowed.

To many people, Chaffee Crossing is a workplace. Hundreds come daily from all over the region to be the workforce of the many, diverse industries, professions and services making up dozens of businesses.

Others are running, pedaling or walking through its outdoor beauty on trails or at the wonderful River Valley Nature Center.

Most recently, Chaffee Crossing is the site of learning and training for an ever-increasing number of students of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education. It’s founding program, the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, has matured such that local patients are now given treatment by some of its D.O. graduates. They now are medically qualified and currently giving care all over the region.

ACHE, as a community presence, will next open a beautiful park on its campus that also will be a magnet attracting public use. It will be known as the Celebration Garden and Wellness Park.

Its underlying, thoughtful purpose is to celebrate and honor the lives of anatomical donors. Attracting people who enjoy it will fulfill a foundational mission of ACHE, to create an on-campus, healthy living environment and to provide, for everyone, the benefits of exercise for mental and physical wellness.

Everyone will be able to visit its walking trails, exercise equipment and children’s playground and a grand, covered pavilion. This gift from ACHE will be a healing destination for an hour or an afternoon.

Celebration and Wellness Park is in an 8-acre wooded area with a small lake, near the Village at Heritage and ACHE campus on Chad Colley Boulevard.

It is connected to sections of Chaffee Crossing’s trail system that cross campus.

Everyone who walks and bikes has access. The park will have therapeutic benefits for patients of the nearby Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital and be a place of learning for students of the physical therapy program.

Everyone can visit to grow healthier in body and mind.

September 2021

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CREATING COMMUNITY

New Farmers & Artisans Market draws happy crowds

T

hey were just waiting to be asked, apparently.

From the first Farmers & Artisans Market this spring, long a goal of FCRA marketing director Lorie Robertson, a happy crowd of people with kids and dogs are showing up enthusiastically to enjoy it.

The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority is the steward of converting and conveying the former military Fort Chaffee into a viable asset for all citizens. Responsible for overseeing real estate development, the authority is charged with facilitating infrastructure such as roads and utilities, and creating zoning for sustainable uses that deliver tax revenue to the surrounding cities to whom the land was restored.

But there’s also a mission to create quality of life at Chaffee Crossing. Working quietly for many years toward that “good life” goal, you will find an imaginative, effective event producer Lorie Robertson.

“I never dreamed it would be at this stage in its first year,” Robertson said. “We have about 100 vendors and are seeing larger crowds attend every month. It has taken off so quickly!”

It’s no overnight success. Robertson researched this community event concept, honing it as an academic study during her continuing education at the Community Development Institute at the University of Central Arkansas.

She gained confidence and practical wisdom by helping to establish several Chaffee Crossing community events that have been successful, including its excellent Veterans Day Parade, now a beloved regional tradition. It is presented with minimal budget from the FCRA and the large participation of a recruited force of volunteers.

She also helped to hold several fun “Elvis Haircut Day” celebrations to boost the Fort Chaffee Barbershop Museum, a popular attraction of the Chaffee Crossing Historic District.

Robertson patiently waited through installation of a Veterans Memorial Plaza to visually draw together the barbershop and fort museums and adjacent tenant, the Crea8ive Arts Studio, a nonprofit art collective in renovated barracks.

When conditions seemed just right in 2020, the unfortunate pandemic blocked her plans to launch monthly market days.

When large outdoor gatherings were permitted again, the debut Farmers & Artisans Market was held in May. Since then, its original handful of tents of local produce and attractive arts and crafts shot up to more than 70 vendors over the next three markets – and climbing.

Each month has a different theme: a reprise of a “My City is a Fort” cardboard fort-building contest for kids was a hit. Another highlighted pickleball, a racquet game so popular that a Chaffee Crossing court is now installed.

Every market day has live music, plenty of kids and family activities and community tables for nonprofit causes. There have been yoga sessions and pottery demonstrations, tying in with two Chaffee Crossing-based studios.

People bring their dogs on leashes (they’re invited!) and toddlers in strollers. Runners and bikers have tied their activities to the market.

The market days, in short, are being embraced in just the way Robertson had hoped – and researched, refined and planned for. She is a prayerful woman but she recruited all the helpers she could before seeking divine intervention.

Market Day Discoveries Turn in your glass items for recycling, clockwise from top left.

Beautiful, fresh vegetables.

Filling up for a squirt gun fight.

Kids build cardboard forts.

The pie day theme was tasty.

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CREATING COMMUNITY A corps of vendors and volunteers has stepped up to help set up and take down market tables, place signs and plug in water mist stations, Robertson said, gratefully. She will be organizing a group of “marketeers” over time so it can carry on with increasing self-determination.

Robertson uses a metaphor of weaving threads together to make a pleasing and strong whole fabric.

“The FCRA provides an underlying thread, a foundation for community building,” she explained. “Then we weave in strength through vendors, volunteers and other participants who take a role, as well, creating more beauty.”

An open-air market gives a kind of a laboratory for entrepreneurs, she said. “Let them bring new products to market and test them,” she said. “They may become brick-and-mortar shops someday.”

“The vendors enjoy it! They tell me how many people smiled and thanked them for being in the market,” which delights Robertson, too, she said.

Even a farmers and artisans market can be a part of economic development, she concluded.

Existing business owners immediately joined and assisted the market. They understand the intention behind the concept, which is to invite more visitors to become comfortable shopping, playing and hanging out at Chaffee Crossing and expect great experiences there.

Appealing, original wares from art to skin care products to a charcuterie/butcher board made of three different woods are examples of many artisan-made goods found at the market.

Fall Schedule Farmers & Artisans Market Sept. 18

Rocking good time Rock crawler vehicles, ATVs and monster trucks on display

oct. 16

FALL FRENZY Cornhole tournament fall-themed activities

Families have fun browsing while kids are invited to cool off with squirt gun skirmishes – the wettest is the winner.

Crea8ive Arts Network members may throw pottery. Bookish set up a story time. Live music and craft beer offer relaxation.

7313 Terry Street Chaffee Crossing historic district fort smith, Ark. 9 am - 2 pM Free admission and parking September 2021

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CREATING COMMUNITY

It’s all about understanding the map FCRA director must stay current on master land-use plan Major commercial and residential developers of Chaffee Crossing can instantly point to their own projects on the colored-coded master land-use plan in the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority offices. Those colored shapes are where their investment is.

Daniel Mann, executive director of the FCRA, knows where everything is. He stays current on the intricate ways all those color-coded properties must be developed in relation to each other, to deliver the highest benefit to the public. To him, this map is a constantly changing puzzle that will someday become one unified picture.

The FCRA is a board of directors with Mann as its administrator. They oversee the ongoing development of the 7,000+ acres conveyed back to public use when the federal government relinquished it back to the cities and counties surrounding it.

The massive redevelopment has matured.

Much use has been decided since 1997, when FCRA was formed. To date, more than $1.85 billion in capital investment has resulted in 17

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corporate and regional headquarters and more than 3,800 jobs. There are now 38 residential neighborhoods and a growing college system of health professions. Retail and small commercial business has bloomed.

Chaffee Crossing today is a vibrant, mixed-use community set in a lovely natural landscape, much of which is for public recreation.

Mann clearly relishes the challenges of his role, keeping FCRA’s mission on course while outside factors arise. For example, the state Transportation Department says it will start on major construction of Interstate 49 from Arkansas 22 in Sebastian County to I-40 in Crawford County, a project critical to Chaffee Crossing’s future. FCRA will be keenly watching out for the public benefit.

Inside Chaffee Crossing itself, Mann has been creating public value in a project turning historic barracks into residences and retail space, he said.

Rival CRE’s Barracks project is exciting, Mann said. “I haven’t seen anyone convert barracks into living quarters. We met in the middle in some ways” to create strategies that yielded both more

Daniel Mann knows the inter-dependent relationships of all the projects on FCRA’s master plan.

parking and more ideal street plan and utility use.

It’s a “win-win,” Mann said. “That’s the goal.”

The mission of the FCRA may be closer to its conclusion, but “there is so much more to do,” he said. “We’re at critical mass now, to make the right decisions for the right projects, that create value for developers who have already invested and for those to come. That’s what I think about every time I stare at this map. We have to be stewards – we are a public trust.”

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CREATING COMMUNITY

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CREATING COMMUNITY

Neighbors meet friends while dining and shopping The social energy level amps up when people rub elbows at Chaffee Crossings’ commercial centers, such as the Warehouse District, The Hub at Providence and the Village at Heritage, part of the campus of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education.

The rise in retail and dining choices at Chaffee Crossing offers places for people to meet with the easy familiarity of bumping into one another casually.

Naturally, the proprietors of each small business are teaming up to create an inviting atmosphere for all their customers, but especially those who live nearby.

At The Hub at Providence, hospitality and relaxation are the connection. Revel, the restaurant opened by chef Jason Haid, welcomes patrons who stop by spontaneously for an after-work drink or with reservations to enjoy his creations for dinner.

A lot of friendly traffic is happening at the new Barrels & Brews Bottle Shop, recently opened by Clint and Kristi Kendrick.

CRAFTED QUALITY Barrels & Brews Bottle Shop

offers one of the most curated selections of wine, beer and spirits in Western Arkansas. Specializing in top-shelf, hard-to-find brands and varietals from some of the most well-known producers.

It will put a smile on your face!

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Nathan Ruiz, store manager, said the bottle shop is ready to be a part of the community.

There’s already been one store opening social hour, he said, and they’re looking forward to presenting tastings.

Also at The Hub at Providence, gorgeous hair is a daily sight, on patrons and the skilled staff of Salon Savvy, opened by Samantha Sims.

All of the camaraderie delights Kathy Coleman of the developers of the mixed-use project, ERC Properties. When it was all still on paper, she dreamed of The Hub residents and businesses all getting a kick out of knowing each other. She loves to act as social glue, introducing people to one another.

Once a month, she delivers “happy sacks” of small gifts and treats to The Hub’s residents and businesses, with a hyper-local newsletter.

Coleman credits Chaffee Crossing’s pleasant, extensive trail system for creating a flow of people and organically sparking friendliness.

“I have even seen people on the trail, who live across the street, picking up litter,” Coleman said.

“I thanked them so much.”

A new gathering spot is planned for The HUB that will attract more friendly conversations, she said. A coffee shop may open in the near future, near the outdoor commons.

Many people will be accompanied by their dogs. Dog-walking and dog-watching are a popular pastime all over Chaffee Crossing’s neighborhoods, it seems.

“Happy Sacks” filled up and organized for personal delivery at The Hub.

Mon-Sat | 10AM-10PM 479-763-1228 9301 R.A. Young Jr Dr. Suite 101 Fort Smith

BarrelsandBrewsFS.com

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CREATING COMMUNITY

Natural bonds grow among students and community Some of the cyclists and runners that are frequently glimpsed in motion at Chaffee Crossing are students or faculty of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education.

Among them are many parents with young families who make their homes in residential neighborhoods while others live in attractive student apartments at The Residents or apartments upstairs at Heritage Community across Chad Colley Boulevard. It’s widely understood that these are people we’d like to keep here. Everyone extends them warmth.

They’re steps away, by design, from eateries such as Heritage Pizza, a gym and other retail shopping and services.

Planned from the start with exactly that intention, the walkable campus encourages a healthy lifestyle, walking over driving and daily encounters with nature and fresh air. Public art, pavilions for large and small gatherings and the new Celebration Garden and Wellness Park all reinforce the colleges’ mission to encourage a healthy lifestyle for the entire region.

The next new class of the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine enjoyed a lawn social and cookout when students arrived in late summer for orientation and enrollment.

Photo courtesy of ACHE

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Make It Yours Today!

The Chaffee Crossing lifestyle is contagious. Outdoor and indoor amenities, excellent employment opportunities, education, and healthcare surround 40 neighborhoods, each with its own unique character. Businesses and people of all ages are attracted to the relaxed atmosphere intertwined with nature. It’s an exciting time and place where new is the norm.

LIVING SPACES Chaffee Crossing has living options to fit every family size from custom single-family homes to apartments, duplexes, townhomes, and cottages. Multiple mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods are interspersed with restaurants, shopping, and commercial spaces.

Visit our website for more information and details.

• 40 neighborhoods • Single-family • Apartments • Duplexes • Townhomes

• Studio/loft apartments • Air BNB • Rental homes • Affordable housing • Gated communities

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RECREATIONAL AMENITIES The Chaffee Crossing lifestyle provides many opportunities to live, work, play, and explore the outdoors every day of the year.

• Pickleball • Miles of hiking, biking, walking trails • Dog Park • Military Museums • Veterans Memorial • Outdoor Amphitheater • Cycling • Golf

• Soccer • Fishing • Kayaking • Canoeing • Nature Center • Art Studio • RV Community • Bird Sanctuary

ChaffeeCrossing.com • 479.452.4554 Property@ChaffeeCrossing.com

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CREATING COMMUNITY

EVENT IS POSTPONED

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CREATING COMMUNITY

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