Democrat Gazette: The old post office on the downtown square in Bentonville, Arkansas, may be demolished. The building currently serves as the Benton County Courthouse Annex, and local officials are working on plans for a new courts building.
A Rogers man with an interest in Northwest Arkansas history staged a one-man demonstration Thursday aiming to bring attention to the old Post Office building and generating support for its preservation.
Randy McCrory organized the gathering with some encouragement but no promises of support, he said as he took a post on the northeast corner of the square in Bentonville. Cindy Acree of Bentonville stopped to talk and then offered to help hold signs and talk to passing motorists. A few pedestrians asked questions and many motorists offered nods and “thumbs up’ gestures.
Benton County’s justices of the peace are expected to finalized the decision to build a courts facility downtown when the Quorum Court meets at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Quorum Courtroom of the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave. in Bentonville.
A handful stopped traffic briefly to ask for more information. Others stared straight ahead and drove on.
“My goal is to have that building preserved,” McCrory said. “It was built in 1935 so it’s got a lot of history associated with it.”
The county is working on plans for a courts facility. The justices of the peace and county judge have endorsed a location on Northeast Second Street but no decision has been made about whether to save the old Post Office building, which now houses Circuit Judge Brad Karren’s court.
Acree said the building is one of a handful of buildings remaining giving Bentonville some of the “small town” flavor of its past.
“There’s a lot of history here and a lot of people who appreciate how the community has always pulled together to preserve our heritage.”
Acree said she hopes the county will consider every alternative available that will leave the building intact. Read more. More here.
