Walton Family Foundation Design Program Supported 20 NWA Projects

Since its creation in 2015, the Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program from the Walton Family Foundation provided $28 million to support the design of 20 community gathering spaces and buildings projects throughout the region.

Two new projects will create long-range plans for the Razorback Greenway and the Bentonville Public School District.

“The Design Excellence Program has always been about people and how to improve parks and public buildings for Northwest Arkansas residents and future residents and visitors,” Meredith said Bergstrom, senior program manager for the Walton Family Foundation’s home region. “This is the part of the program that I’m most excited about.”

Before joining the Walton Family Foundation, Bergstrom worked in urban planning and design for Dover, Kohl & Partners in Miami. She also served as director of the Siloam Springs Main Streets Program. She said that excluding the Walton Family Foundation, about $141 million in public and private money supported Design Excellence Program projects. The Walton Family Foundation operates on five-year strategies and the program has been a tool to achieve its goals over the past 10 years. Many projects are underway as the family organization looks to the future of the program.

Bentonville recently broke ground on a $39.35 million project to build the 110-acre 8th Street Gateway Park, west of Walmart’s headquarters at Eighth Street and Walton Boulevard. Port, with offices in Chicago and Philadelphia, is the designer. It should be completed in two years, with the park opening at the end of 2026.

In December 2019, Walmart Inc. donated 75 acres of land for the park, adding to a previous 23-acre land donation from the Walton family. The Walton Family Foundation will provide up to $32.5 million for construction. Support also comes from the $266 million bond issue that Bentonville voters approved in April 2021.

The park includes 6 miles of mountain bike trails, nearly 6 miles of paved trails, Eighth Street Viaducts, a skate park and pump track, a 1-acre playground and a pavilion. David Wright, Bentonville Parks and Recreation director, said the park’s $1 million playground will be a “true destination” and should capture children’s attention longer than the average playground . On the west side of the park, a new trail will connect Applegate Trail to a tunnel under 14th Street.

Bergstrom said the park “will anchor the current active transportation system. It will serve west Bentonville, where the majority of Bentonville residents live west of I-49. So… active and passive recreation opportunities as well as cycling opportunities (are) in this park.

NEW COMPANIES, PROJECTS
Bergstrom said some firms selected for the design excellence program will withdraw at the end of this year and “a good number of them received projects during their five years.” Companies stay in the program for five years or until they are selected for a project.

The foundation recently accepted applications from new companies interested in joining the program. The selection committee and foundation representatives choose which ones to add.

“We received a record number of applications,” Bergstrom said. “There were about 140, so the committee is doing their due diligence on this… The announcement date for the selected companies has not yet been set, but they are expected to be part of the program on January 1.”

Bergstrom stressed the importance of having a diverse pool of companies, to ensure a variety of them can meet the needs of a project when a design grant is awarded. She said the 14 companies added in April focus on planning “because previously we only supported projects that we anticipated would result in a capital construction project.”

The Walton Family Foundation recently announced two new Design Excellence Program projects focused on planning. The Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission received a grant to develop the first phase of the Razorback Greenway Corridor Plan. It aims to encourage mixed-use developments along the trail to boost trail use and regional connectivity and identify areas to build housing. Additionally, the Bentonville Public School District received a grant to complete a master plan for a downtown school campus, which includes the preservation of the old high school.

Another planning project Bergstrom mentioned is NorthWest Arkansas Community College’s campus master plan, which will help develop plans for its facilities and outdoor spaces over the next 10 to 20 years. Lake Flato, based in San Antonio, Texas, is the designer.

With the program now supporting planning projects, more than 80 companies could participate in the program, but Bergstrom said that will depend on the committee’s selection process.

Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas, has chaired the selection committee since 2015. He said selecting new designers had been difficult amid a record number of candidates.

“We have this incredible group of designers from all disciplines, and at any given time there are only so many projects that we can select firms to interview for,” MacKeith said. “We want to be very careful not to raise expectations. We want to be very careful to maintain as high a level of quality as necessary.

He said the program’s architects and designers are among the best in the country, including those based in Northwest Arkansas and Arkansas. He attributed the program’s success to his leadership and promotion as well as the number of projects built “of value to the communities in which they are located and collectively now to the region as a whole.”

One project that stood out to MacKeith was the new performing arts space for TheatreSquared in Fayetteville. This was the first of several concurrent projects and had a measurable impact on the economy, community and theater education of the surrounding region. MacKeith also looks forward to the Razorback Greenway project aimed at strengthening the region’s transportation network and supporting the region’s growth.

PROJECT UPDATES
Bergstrom said Luther George Park in downtown Springdale recently reopened. The 14-acre park, designed by New Orleans landscape architect Spackman Mossop Michaels, includes a new playground, amphitheater and gathering space.

Downtown Springdale Alliance (DSA) helped the city launch a capital campaign to raise $12.5 million for the project. DSA Board President Dina Wood said it is one of three projects in downtown Springdale, including the Jones Center and Springdale Municipal Campus. She highlighted the importance of community contribution to the projects, which resulted in contributing and complementing the quality of life of residents.

“Luther George Park was one of the most remarkable experiences I’ve seen, with the various charrettes and surveys developed by the architects and designers – where people could make great contributions from all kinds of diverse households and what type of park needed to be in downtown Springdale for them to live and have vibrant, healthy experiences,” Wood said “The same thing happened with the Jones Center. from the public was very impressive.

Wood, director of development at the Jones Center, said Denver-based Civitas has completed the design of the Jones Center project. She said the 55-acre Jones Central Green project is in a quiet fundraising phase before a capital campaign begins in 2026. Work will begin on the west side of the project to connect it to Luther George Park , and the inauguration of the works is expected in 2026.

Quilt of Parks is another program project that connects several parks in downtown Bentonville. Design Workshop Inc. of Aspen, Colo., is the designer.

Wright said the $15.86 million A Street Promenade is under construction and will connect Lawrence Plaza to Dave Peel Park. It is expected to be completed in summer 2025. The renovation and expansion of Dave Peel Park is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025 and be completed late next year.

PROGRAM PRINCIPLES
Bergstrom said the principles of the Design Excellence Program include strengthening public life, elevating standards of sustainability and resilience, celebrating local culture and place, and building regional capacity. Completed projects illustrate the principles.

“For example, at Railyard Park in downtown Rogers, the completed project sees five times more visitors,” she said. “People say this place has improved their sense of belonging to their community. They are proud of the project. This is where they go when they have visitors. They want to show their community.

She added that the Lower Ramble in Fayetteville has improved water quality along the creek that runs through the space.

“People see it as meeting what they wanted from local architecture and a sense of place in Fayetteville,” Bergstrom said. “There is much more to come.”

The Lower Ramble included the first phase of the city’s $31.69 million Cultural Arts Corridor or Ramble. The project is supported by a $226.07 million bond issue that Fayetteville voters approved in April 2019. Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects of Charlottesville, Virginia, is the designer.

Peter Nierengarten, environmental director for the city of Fayetteville, said the plaza or Upper Ramble is the final phase of the Ramble for the city. The plaza, located southwest of Dickson Street and West Avenue, is expected to open in December or January.

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