Wally World in Wonderland

People travel from all over the nation to vacation in this precious place. They come to Eureka Springs to see what old time towns used to look like. They journey here to experience our quaint atmosphere and visit our barber shop, hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, hardware stores, grocery stores and drug stores, etc. Our tourists bring their children for a history lesson they can't learn in their schools. Visitors come for our excellent art and music traditions that cannot be found anywhere else. Victorian buffs travel here to visit some of the most beautiful "painted ladies" in America. And the restaurants are fabulous. This is "a one of a kind" destination and it is our life blood.

Walmart will suck us dry, just as they have ruined other towns in the USA. They start with an express store. As our shops close due to Wally World's killer competition, they will expand and then we will have a superstore across from the "Hoe Down". This store will fill in all the gaps left by our local merchants.

Of course the music shows won't exist because there won't be any music left in town. Don't count on any special music weekends, either. Our beautiful Auditorium will be moth balled, again. Art enthusiasts will go elsewhere because the galleries won't be able to stay open. Artists of our caliber can't live in a town with no market for their work.

Our beautiful old homes will be abandoned because their owners won't be able to afford the repairs. Our historic hotels won't be able to survive without tourists so they will close. With most of our attractions closed, just think where our real estate prices will land. I hazard a guess...in the dumper.

No, folks, all we will be able to offer travelers is a big old Walmart which they can walk through anytime in their own towns. We will just be another gas and fast food stop on the way to points south.

On Tuesday, August 23 at 6:00 PM, at the court house, there will be a public meeting before the Planning Commission meets to discuss the Walmart project. We need a venue that is large enough so that all our concerned citizens can be heard. A narrow hall outside the jury room with a TV that has to be kept at low volume won't work this time. The upper court room or the Auditorium needs to be used for this important discussion. Please call the chairman of Planning, Beverly Blankenship, and express your wishes. You might give the mayor, Morris Pate, a jingle, too.