By Philip Holsinger

The Daily Citizen

The cars descend in droves at twilight.

It is early spring in Searcy. As 7:30 p.m. showtime at the old-fashioned Rialto movie theater approaches, the cars approach with it. They park on the square. Couples with laughing children amble across the lawn of Arkansas' oldest working courthouse to the theater's doors. A young couple holding hands waits on a curb to cross Race Street.

Alan Figley looks from the second floor window of a building he is renovating on a corner of the square, an older building he is transforming into townhouse-style living quarters modeled after a place in Nachez, Miss. He thinks, "This is the heartbeat of the town."

Figley is not alone in his feeling.

Figley's renovation effort represents a larger dream of a group of local leaders to someday see a thoughtfully developed downtown, incorporating restaurants, shopping and other commerce with the already rapid-fire daily government and business traffic, a dream that they are determined to bring about through the development of a Main Street program for Searcy.

Main Street is a type of civic development cooperative started in1980 as part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation with the goal of helping cities attract development while preserving the architectural and cultural heritage of a town.

It is an application-only program that not every city gains access to.

When towns like Searcy gain the acceptance of Main Street Arkansas, they can see money and support through the Main Street organization in developing new life in the heart of their city.

The planners also aim to preserve one of the very things that make a city a good place to live: An attractive downtown suitable for restaurants and nightlife, general commerce and other pedestrian traffic.

The group putting together the efforts for Searcy know they have a head start because with the daily bustle surrounding the working courthouse, Searcy already has the foundation, Searcy Main Street board member Carol Rodgers said.

Since 1984, Main Street Arkansas cities have gained almost 4,000 new jobs, more than 700 new business and seen more than $62 million in private investments financing leading to more than 2,000 renovations and new construction projects, Rodgers said.

"Searcy is unique in that we have the backing of Mayor LaForce, the business community and the Chamber of Commerce [at the start of our efforts]," Rodgers said. "The downtown is the core of any city and is so beneficial to the entire community."

During the board's last planning meeting, held June 10 at city hall, Rodgers expressed enthusiasm at how quickly the idea is generating moral support.

The next step is financial support.

The cost of participating in Main Street, an initial three year commitment by the Searcy chapter of $50,000 a year (which includes a director's salary and operating expenses, as required by Main Street), is relatively small compared to the benefits, which include access to architects and other professional developers and also special loans and grants, board member Alan Figley said.

And Figley should know, because long before he was invited to participate on the board of Main Street he had already begun his renovation project at 208 Spring St. on the square, a labor of love costing him much in the investment of time and resources.

"I began my renovation project downtown before I learned of Main Street and the efforts to start a local chapter," Figley said. "I enjoy life in a good downtown and that is what motivated me to start my own effort."

Figley, the director of the Master of Business Administration program at Harding University, bought the building on the Southeast corner of Spruce and Market Streets a year ago and has been slowly gutting the building in preparation for creating town house-style living quarters upstairs with commerce space downstairs.

He and his wife have traveled to Nachez, Miss., to get ideas for how the building will look and function, he said.

Figley said the response to his renovation efforts has been nothing but positive, with people talking to him almost every day he is there, describing their excitement for what he is doing.

"People come by and yell up at me in the upstairs windows and tell me 'thanks, I'm glad you're taking care of the downtown,'" he said.

Figley was invited to join the board because he showed by his own efforts a vision for what Main Street Arkansas is all about, Searcy Main Street steering committee member Debra Wolfe said.

The city becoming a part of Main Street Arkansas is no simple task, however.

The idea began back in the mid-1990s with then-mayor David Evans, Wolfe said. But other things took priority at the time, and Main Street was put on hold until recently.

When Mayor LaForce took office, she knew Main Street was something to keep in mind. Through the past year, people on the committee began to meet and talk about how the Main Street organization could complement all the development efforts going on in Searcy.

The mayor pledged her full support, Wolfe said.

By the beginning of the year a steering committee had been put together and with their help several meetings were arranged with Main Street Arkansas representatives, including a special presentation held at city hall in the spring. By May a board had been named.

The board is now faced with the task of making official application to Main Street, a daunting paper pile consisting of 80 different components.

Members of the Main Street Searcy board have set up a booth at Business Expo 2004 to introduce the idea to a wider public. Business Expo 2004 is held through today between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Harding University's Gannus Center on the campus green.

A reception will be held July 15 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. to share the Main Street idea at the Chamber of Commerce building on North Main.