White Hall Mayor Noel Foster gave his “state of the city” address last week, and for a year when lethal covid variants strained the seams of life, and supply chain shortages slowed down everything from tiny remodels to multimillion-dollar construction projects, the city turned in a winner.
“Tonight, I am pleased to report that our city is strong, and we continue to enjoy residential and commercial growth in our city,” he said. “Our city has remained resilient in the wake of a continued global pandemic. Our perspectives, our lives, and our city have been transformed by the experiences of the past two years.”
In fact, there was hardly any segment of life in White Hall that didn’t see some improvement in 2021.
Broadly speaking, new banks, hotels, restaurants, school facilities, businesses and a hospital were either under construction or being planned, with the price tag for all of that in the many millions of dollars. At the street level, one driving around in White Hall cannot avoid seeing ground broken for this or that new construction project.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
City Hall has also been trying to keep up. To address the growth, officials have been working on how to manage all that new traffic, which, in this part of the state, is a nice problem to have. There have been improvements made to the city’s parks, money for walking trails was secured, there were numerous upgrades to city equipment (Think 95-foot ladder truck for the fire department and SkyCop camera system for the police.), and for the dogs a new dog park.
And for all that, citizens get what the mayor reminded was a top 10 place to raise a family and one of Arkansas’ safest cities.
The museum, which was closed from covid, returned to action in 2021, as did the community center, which started once again to host events. And even the water park had big year.
“The Crenshaw Springs Water Park had a stellar year for the 2021 season, [bringing in about $350,000],” Foster said. “We were able to open with no restrictions and because of that we had one of the greatest seasons thus far.”
At a time when many cities are struggling, Foster said White Hall’s successes are happening because the community works together.
“As I reflect on my time as mayor, I am always amazed at how this community works together to continue to make White Hall a great place to live,” he said. “I want to thank the White Hall Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and its members, and the town’s countless volunteers for their continued support throughout the year.”
Whatever the reasons, things seem to be humming right along for White Hall. People see White Hall as a good place to live, patrons support their school system financially, investors see the city as a good place to put their money and their new facilities and, as the mayor said, he sees more to come.
White Hall seems to be in charge of its own destiny, meaning that the positive changes that are sought are actually happening. That’s a fine place to a city to be, and they are to be applauded for making it happen.