Best of Siloam Springs

a lot of opportunity. Siloam Springs has been part of that excitement and growth, but it has never lost that small- town feel. The city of Siloam Springs has grown so much and it's been incredible to see the growth that has happened in just 20 years. I've witnessed new parks and trails built, a movie theater come to town, two different Walmarts open and thrive along with countless new restaurants and businesses. I've seen the city come together to bring about important updates to community staples like a bowling alley and creeks that have been here forever, and my personal favorite – the restoration of historic downtown Siloam Springs. The community and town of Siloam Springs has played a huge role molding and shaping who I am as a person. I am so proud to call a place as unique as Siloam Springs my home town. I always enjoyed living here, but I never realized just how blessed I was until I was older. ~ Blythe Wilt By Randy Rice Anyone who has visited Siloam Springs has been impressed by what they see—its quaint downtown, the sparkling creek meandering through the historic buildings, its serene location nestled near the surrounding Ozark Mountains. It's clearly a great destination for travelers and vacationing families. But the nearby 412 highway— while providing easy access to the town for travelers coming from Arkansas and the neighboring state—does not pass through downtown itself, so many motorists have just passed the town by on their way somewhere else. "Highway 412 has always been quite a conundrum for us," recently retired Chamber of Commerce President Wayne Mays said. "Twenty-five to thirty thousand cars traverse the highway everyday and they see the growth; the new buildings and restaurants and say 'wow, Siloam Springs is really on the move.' But the problem is they don't see the real Siloam Springs because they just drive through on 412. Getting people off 412 and into the town so they can experience the real beauty and all the amenities we have to offer has been a challenge." But in the past few years the city has invested in some outstanding improvements that are starting to get people to turn off the highway and make Siloam Springs their destination for fun and adventure for the whole family. It all started with the Chamber of Commerce partnering with the City of Siloam Springs to help pass some tax measures to fund the plans to turn the town into a real tourist destination. "The city can't ask citizens to vote 'yes' on a tax proposal," said Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Economic Development Nathan Reed. "And that is appropriate and the way it should be. So when the city needs some funds to improve the parks, they come to the Chamber for help in explaining the tax to the people so they can really understand why it would be a boost for tourism and improve their quality of life and, of course, be good for property values." "Those funds we started to put into the improvements of our outdoor amenities a few years ago resulted in City Lake Park and Memorial Park, Sager Creek Mountain Bike Trail, and more," Reed continued. "None of these would have happened without the people of Siloam Springs coming together to support the vision of the city to make Siloam Springs a real tourist destination." And when the city started investing in improvements, other grants started to become available, too. A prime example was a grant from Walmart to build the Siloam Springs Kayak Park, which is something no other town can boast of having in Northwest Arkansas. The projects the town decided to pursue were calculated to improve the quality of life for its residents and draw visitors to the town. "We really put a lot of thought into our plans before we asked for the funding. We made sure that we were being smart when it came to designing amenities that would help make us a destination," Reed said. "When you have all of these offerings in your town, especially when many of them are free, people will come. And it will benefit all of the businesses in town. They may come for a concert in Memorial Park. If they do they will probably want to eat in one of our downtown restaurants and walk around the shops, too. They will patronize the businesses and they will tell their friends about their great experience in Siloam Springs and that will lead to return visits and more new visitors." "It's important to acknowledge, too, that all of the promises the city made, they kept," said Mays. "We in the Chamber of Commerce closely monitored the progress of each project to make sure the community was going to be receiving exactly what they had paid for. After all, The Chamber's name was on the line, too, because we had led the charge for the taxes. And I am proud today to walk around Memorial Park and elsewhere in town and see everything we helped build." See the article in this guide on page 12 about Adventures in Siloam Springs and read about more of the great ways to enjoy the Siloam Springs experience. You can also visit discoversiloamsprings.com, that puts all of the fun and adventure you'll find in Siloam Springs right at your fingertips. Not just a drive- through anymore Siloam Springs Herald-Leader Wednesday, March 25, 2020 Best of Siloam Springs • 27 Pink Poodle 828 S Mt Olive St • Siloam Springs, AR 72761 Phone: (479) 238-9100 Thank you for trusting us with your fur babies! We love Siloam!

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