From Cowboy Boots To Strappy Sandals

Dickson Street Is Re-Thread For The Chic

Last updated Sunday, May 15, 2005 12:06 AM CDT in News

By Jeff Niese
The Morning News

"Change is inevitable," said Joe Fennel, who is building a new home for his restaurant Bordino's on Dickson. The $1.2 million to $2 million, two-story building will include 6,500 square feet of office space. It is expected to open in July.

At least two other construction projects are planned for the street. Alexander, Merry-Ship and Alt Real Estate Group is planning a $20 million, 100,000-square-foot mixed-use development near 611 W. Dickson St. called Underwood Plaza.

The building is expected to be six to eight stories tall and will include a parking deck, said developer Richard Alexander.

The group finished building 14 condos in the UARK Bowl building a few years ago.

"Most of Dickson has been redone in the past 10 years," Alexander said. "It started with the Walton Arts Center. That was the key to spring everything."

Alexander said the completion of the Walton Arts Center in 1992 brought outside investment to Dickson.

The Barber Group plans to build a five-story condo building behind Dickson Street. The $10 million project is expected to start this summer and will feature 900-square-foot condos that will sell for about $225,000 when finished.

While office and residential developments are in, Dave's on Dickson, a 4,500-square-foot dance and music hall and Chester's, another former venue for live music, are out. Their closings sent a ripple through the live music scene on Dickson, which is just now being absorbed by other clubs, said Chris Selby, owner of Clunk Records, who schedules music groups at JR's Lightbulb Club at 21 N. Block St.

Local musicians say venues now favor national acts over local ones. As a result, groups like Wildwood and other local musicians are finding it hard to work on Dickson Street.

"They can't take a risk on local bands. You're killing the roots of the music scene when you cut off local bands," Rues said.

Jed Clampit plans to leave Fayetteville and return to his native Monticello in July, citing difficulty in finding work. Clampit has lived and worked in Fayetteville for the past 30 years.

"I think it is economics. Accountants have taken over the bars," said Chris Albert, a musician in Springfield, Mo. Albert said he sees a similar trend in Springfield: less live music and more "be seen bars."

"In the '70's and '80's you could make a good living playing music. Lately, it sort of has gone down the tubes. I'm not sure why," he said. "IPods didn't help. Now people can listen to anything and anybody."

Chester's was a hole-in-the-wall bar on Dickson Street when it closed in early 2004. It couldn't be more different now.

Stained concrete floors, ceiling fans, flat-panel TVs on one wall, a giant mirror on the other. Red and orange light shows off the porcelain-tiled bar, wooden wall panels and stairs and an upstairs balcony.

"It is one of, if not the nicest club in Fayetteville," said owner Dave Bass about his bar, which is now called Stir.

One of the main draws to any bar is seen lined up in front of the full wall mirrors. Bottles stand three rows deep at perfect attention and ready for the bartenders.

"This is our first time here," says Kim Kinsey, who is seated at a table with her friend, Alicia Bembenek. They are both graduate students at UA.

The two usually avoid Dickson because they don't want to make the mistake of running into one of their students, but they are out this night. They are at Stir after being attracted to the bar by the wood molding, large mirrors and ceiling fans.

Strappy sandals, skirts and low-cut blouses covered slightly by a sweater. They perch at the tables like hunters in a tree. One is drinking a $5 Cosmopolitan, the other a $3 vodka and cranberry. Both drinks look red in the light.

"They could use some more tables in here," Bembenek says, motioning to the dozens of people, mostly men, standing around.

Bass said it was tough for him to leave live music behind. The problems were numerous. People didn't show up for bands. People didn't want to pay a cover. A band would play for only for a couple of hours.

"That's weeks of work for two hours," Bass said. "One time I brought in one of what I thought was a great band and no one showed up. The younger crowd just doesn't want to spend money at the door."

The price of renting commercial space on Dickson Street has practically doubled in the past 10 years, Alexander said. Space now runs $12 to $20 a square foot, depending on the location. Monthly rent on a 2,500-square-foot building would be $2,500 on the low-end.

"Taxes keep going up and bills keep running in. There are more expenses each year," said Robert Reynolds, a Fayetteville alderman who owns Roger's Recreation at 406 W. Dickson St. Roger's Rec has resisted change, and Reynolds' attributes that to its success.

People don't want to pay the $5 or $6 cover to listen to a band, Bass said. They want to be heard. They want to be seen. They want to barhop.

Bass found this out when he operated Dave's on Dickson as a live music venue. Opening Stir simplified the equation and gave people what he thinks they want.

"Walk-in bars make it hard for the rest of us to thrive," said Brian Crowne, owner of George's Majestic Lounge.

George's is a throwback bar. It has had four owners in its 78-year history. Crowne bought the place in 2004 with the intention of making it the "showcase venue in Northwest Arkansas." George's offers live music five to six nights a week and is one of the largest venues on Dickson Street to watch a show with an outdoor stage where up to 500 people can watch. Crowne said he is bringing in more Grammy-award-winning musicians.

Crowne gets frustrated when people balk at paying a cover when the money goes straight to the band. But, "things go in cycles," he said.

Jody Nally spent 10 years on Dickson Street playing guitar in a number of bands including Gary and the Grinders. It was easier then for rag-tag local bands to find a place to play on Dickson than it is now, she said. But music lovers are treated to established national acts now, she said.

"It's a blast. I'm having a good time," she said before heading back into George's to watch Anthony Gomes, a musician from Toronto.

Nally isn't the only one having a good time this night.

"It's the beautiful women," says Joe Soto, 28, from Sheboygan, Wis. Soto is in town for the month working in Springdale. Someone told him and his coworkers they needed to check out Dickson, so here he is with about half-a-dozen other guys, each with plastic Mardi Gras beads hanging around their necks.

"We feel right at home here. The bars are all over the place."

Outside, three police cars line up in front of the Walton Arts Center as the night gets later. Police officers scan the crowd for trouble.

A man falls drunk into a parked car.

Soto says he loves what a university town has to offer as a group of women walk by. He also is thankful for the current price of Coronas at this bar, Brewski's: "$2.50 when they're $3 to $4 back home."

Soto and a friend talk up a couple of girls from the bar. After exchanging phone numbers, they head back into the guts of the bar.

"We got the weekend off, then it is back to work on Monday," Soto says.

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