About 55 people gathered Wednesday morning (June 3) near the Interstate 540 and Rogers Avenue interchange in Fort Smith to recognize Beautify Fort Smith’s success in gathering fiscal and physical resources in improving the appearance of the interchange with hundreds of flowers, 124 trees and 2,887 shrubs. (Eat your heart out Knights Who Say Ni.)
Landscaping the four “quads” of the intersection was primarily the idea of Nancy Smreker (pronounced Smerker) who cajoled city and state officials as well as area business leaders to coordinate beautification of the high-traffic entrance to Fort Smith with the more than $70 million renovation of I-540 through the city. The interstate rehab work was completed in June 2014.
The overall landscape project cost around $110,000. The two largest quads were sold for $30,000 each. One was sponsored by First National Bank of Fort Smith President and CEO Sam Sicard, while another was sponsored jointly by Arvest Bank, the Walton Family Foundation and a $20,000 grant from the Western Arkansas Planning and Development District made possible through Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith.
Two other smaller quads were sponsored for $15,000 each by businessman Bennie Westphal and the Family Enterprise Center at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. The Family Enterprise Center donation was made with private contributions and not university funds.
Additional funding for the project came from boring Steve Forsgren did irrigation at a cost of $33,000 with no profit. He donated an additional $5,000 to the project.
Smreker said all installation is being handled by Sharum Landscaping instead of volunteers with Beautify Fort Smith. Smreker said the landscape design and work by Sharum was either donated or provided at his cost.
Smreker also said the maintenance of the beds and 200 flats of annual flowers is done by Grant Bowers with Bowers Premium Lawns. Mowing and litter pickup is done by Wendell and Kyle Holland with Triple H Lawn Service.
Sicard praised Smreker for her “passion, persistence and determination” in pushing to success a “true public-private partnership.” Files said when he thinks of Smreker, two words come to mind: “dogged determination.” Files also used his time Wednesday morning to say Fort Smith is at a “critical crossroads” and challenged those in attendance to have more of a vision and passion for what Fort Smith can be.
“There are opportunities like this all over the city,” Files said, pointing to the interchange.
For her part, Smreker pushed credit to the business community that stepped up to finance the idea.
“They truly did what they needed to do to make this happen,” she said.
Smreker is not finished with her beautification plans. Her next goal is the Grand Avenue and I-540 interchange. It will be a smaller project than the Rogers Avenue job, but is another city entry point that she says needs a makeover.
Other projects Beautify Fort Smith has in the plans include:
• Installation of welcome signs at all Fort Smith city entrances;
• Adding Christmas lights to trees along Garrison Avenue during the holidays;
• Partnering the citywide litter pickups in April and October with tree giveaways;
• Planting trees at all city street interchanges; and
• Getting all interstate interchanges in the city under agreement with the AHTD for contractors to mow the property multiple times per month instead of just a few times per year.