A new restaurant from the folks behind Feed and Folly will soon open its doors right on the trail system (if it had doors to open).

All signs are pointing toward the fully-outdoor restaurant, called City Park and located in the former AT&T truck station at 1332 N. Leverett Ave., being very close to making its debut.

Local sign painter Eric Snodgrass was spotted painting new signage visible from the trail side of the restaurant this week, and progress is being made daily on the two covered outdoor seating areas on the property that will serve the new establishment.

Owner Lewis Chase told us City Park will open in two phases, with the first phase including the covered seating, a container bar offering adult and other beverages, along with food offerings including street tacos, smash burgers, barbecue, salad bowls, breakfast, coffee, and appetizers for hungry folks who have worked up an appetite walking or biking the nearby Razorback Greenway trail.

View of the restaurant from Leverett Avenue. (Flyer photo/Todd Gill)

The second phase of the restaurant that is currently under design and development will include a yard area filled with games and additional seating, and a new connection to the trail over the adjacent Scull Creek.

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The restaurant also has its social media presence set up, and the first couple posts on their newly established Instagram account outline some information about their plans, the reasons for the name, and more. There’s also some info about the name on their website, which is a nod to “City Park,” the original name for beloved Wilson Park in Fayetteville.

From the website:

In 1908, an anonymous writer going by the name “City Park Poet” penned a tribute to the natural beauty of this new addition to Fayetteville. In the poem “Athens of Arkansas,” the author tells the audience that

“By being more friendly with Nature and Art,” we “have added to town a beautiful park” and:

To sum it all up – to come to the test,

There’s but one addition that we can call best,

The one by Mt. Nord through Englewood shade,

The place of all places that Nature has made,

The place she has made and sealed with her mark

The beautiful place we call CITY PARK.

If all goes well, City Park will be open with its first phase of amenities sometime before UA graduation on May 13, Chase said.

A gym in west Fayetteville has permanently closed after its building changed hands for the second time this year.

Iconix Fayetteville, located at 2736 W McMillan Dr. and formerly known as Fitness One, officially closed for business on Thursday, May 11.

The building will soon be home to Cross Church College (CTHREE), a college ministry affiliated with neighboring Cross Church.

The building was originally constructed on property once owned by Cross Church. The church built their current campus, an estimated $18-19 million, 57,500-square-foot facility, on a portion of the property, and sold a portion to WCG Wedington for $2.4 million in 2016 for construction of the Fitness One gym. The gym opened in 2018, and operated there for around four years.

Fitness One sold the property in January for $9.69 million to Maverick Decatur Georgia, a Georgia-based LLC affiliated with California-based gym, Iconix Fitness who had planned to convert the business practices and branding to match its location in Long Beach.

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After the transition to the new company over the winter and early spring, members and staff learned a few weeks ago that the property had sold once again, and the gym would be permanently closing on May 11.

This time, according to Washington County property records, the building sold for $16 million on April 26 to McMillan & Wedington LLC, a company that lists Springdale attorney Kenneth Hall as the registered agent.

That weekend, Cross Church announced their plans to utilize the building for their CTHREE college branch at a service held on April 30. During the service, members of the church walked over to tour the facility that evening.

Shortly after that, a notice was placed on the door of the gym indicating that it would be closed. Staff and members of the gym told us they were not notified of the building sale and closure of the business prior to the announcement during the church service on April 30.

“A local institution had a need for this location to do important work for the community,” the notice on the door of the building read. “The message they put forth and the good that will come to the (sic) Fayetteville as a result will be immeasurable.”

According to the notice, billing for gym members ceased on April 15, and the gym remained open at no charge to members through May 11. Annual memberships paid in advance were credited back to the members on a prorated bases, the notice said.

It is unclear whether Cross Church has an ownership stake in McMillan & Wedington, LLC.

According to their website, Fitness One still operates locations in Lowell, Arkansas and in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Cross Church started as First Baptist Springdale before rebranding to their new name in 2010. The Southern Baptist-affiliated church operates three locations in NWA, including the original location in Springdale, in Rogers, and the Fayetteville campus. The church is also affiliated with Shiloh Christian schools, a private christian schools with campuses associated with their locations in Springdale and Rogers.

After the name change, the church opened their first Fayetteville location in a strip mall on Wedington Drive in 2010. They expanded to the current site after two Cross Church members purchased nine acres near the I-49 interchange in November 2014.

Besides the University of Arkansas campus, Fayetteville attractions include a botanical garden, Dickson Street nightlife and the first home of Bill and Hillary Clinton

By Randy Mink, Senior Editor

Northwest Arkansas, a region with fast-growing cities just a short drive from vast stretches of Ozarks wilderness, surprises many first-time visitors with its dynamic cultural scene, recreational opportunities and quality of life. No wonder it’s often rated as one of the best places to live in the U.S.

The corporate headquarters of Fortune 500 companies Walmart, Tyson Foods and J.B. Hunt Transport Services, along with other nationally known businesses, keep local economies strong. This corner of Arkansas also hosts the University of Arkansas’ flagship campus in Fayetteville, a lively place sizzling with college-town buzz.

The campus is one of many points of interest in the city of 92,000 permanent residents. Enrolled at the school are 28,000 students, some of them full-time residents.

Highlights of a campus tour include:

The mascot name Razorback comes from the wild hogs native to Arkansas, animals known for their toughness and fearlessness. Fans do the Hog Call, one of the most recognizable cheers in all of sports, and at football games the marching band spells out a “Go Hogs” formation at halftime.

You can purchase the latest Razorback gear at Hog Heaven in the football stadium or at the Campus Bookstore, which is near Walmart on Campus, one of the smallest Walmart stores in the country.

In a region known for biking, Fayetteville offers more than 20 miles of mountain bike trails and 40 miles of paved trails, including the Frisco and Scull Creek trails, which are located steps from campus. The Razorback Regional Greenway is a 37.5-mile trail that extends from Fayetteville to Bella Vista.

The Dickson Street entertainment district, a short walk from both the campus and historic downtown square, reflects the town’s youthful vibe. The heartbeat of Fayetteville, it offers an eclectic variety of eateries, coffee shops, bars, music clubs and other places to hang out. George’s Majestic Lounge, dating back to 1927, is the oldest and longest-running live-music venue in Arkansas.

The downtown square hosts the Fayetteville Farmers Market on Saturdays, Tuesday and Thursdays from spring to fall. Arkansas’ longest-running farmers market celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023.

Overnight guests can’t help getting into the old college spirit at downtown’s Graduate Fayetteville, a hotel whose rustic decor gives a nod to the Ozarks, University of Arkansas traditions and college life in general. My brightly colored room featured mismatched fabrics, a gaudy red floral settee and a red fabric Razorback head above the bedboard. On either side of the bed were framed sketches of aviation pioneer Iris Louise Thaden, a U of A alumna, and football coach Hugo Bezdek, who in 1909 inspired the Razorbacks name for university sports teams, which originally were called the Cardinals. The bed cover was inscribed with “1871,” the year the university was founded.

Fayetteville’s prettiest attraction is Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, with its 12 themed gardens, stately Southern magnolias and the region’s only butterfly house. Live chickens inhabit the Tyson Chicken Coop.

Themed gardens surrounding the Great Lawn:

The Ozark Ball Museum is housed in the Fayetteville home of Kelly and Donna Mulhollan, a folk singing duo whose hobby is collecting balls. (Randy Mink Photo)

The Ozark Ball Museum certainly qualifies as the city’s quirkiest attraction. It’s located in the home of Kelly and Donna Mulhollan, a couple of folk musicians by trade who are happy to show groups the eclectic collection of spheres they’ve gathered from friends, garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores and antiques shops. Grouped in categories, the spheres range from marbles, globes and sparkly disco balls to billiard, soccer and bowling balls.

Sharing their passion for their hobby, the Mulhollans enjoy telling tour groups how they acquired the balls. Among their pride and joys are a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth and a ball and chain from Alcatraz.

As part of the tour, the Mulhollans will entertain your group with a song or two, with Donna on the fiddle and Kelly on the guitar or banjo. They’ll also show you their display of guitars and other musical instruments, a collection they call the Ozark Instrument Museum.

Fans of presidential history flock to the Clinton House Museum, the first home of Bill and Hillary Clinton. They were married in the living room of the one-bedroom English Tudor Revival-style cottage and resided there in 1975-76 when both were teaching at the University of Arkansas. It’s the only place where they lived together before entering state and national politics. Exhibits include photographs, videos, campaign memorabilia and a replica of Hillary’s wedding dress.

The first home of Bill and Hillary Clinton, located at 930 W. Clinton Drive in Fayetteville, is open for tours. (Photo credit: Arkansas Tourism)

Telling the story of the house purchase in his book My Life, Clinton writes: “When Hillary came back from her trip, I said, ‘Remember that little house you like so much? I bought it. You have to marry me now because I can’t live there alone.’ I took her to see the house. It still needed a lot of work, but my rash move did the trick.”

Clinton paid $17,200 for the house. Built around 1931, it is located at 930 W. Clinton Drive (formerly California Boulevard).

For more travel ideas about northwest Arkansas and vicinity, be sure to Subscribe to Leisure Group Travel magazine for FREE.

Lead Photo: An image of the University of Arkansas’ Razorback mascot emblazons this tour bus parked at the Graduate Hotel in downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Randy Mink Photo)

Apple Blossom Brewing Company is set to close this weekend, but the building at 1550 E. Zion Road in Fayetteville won’t be without beer and food for long.

North Little Rock-based brewery Flyway Brewing owner Matt Foster confirmed to us this week that his business plans to soon move into the space, which will be its first location outside of central Arkansas.

“Apple Blossom was a pioneer in NWA, and it is sad to see them go,” Foster said. “However, we’re thrilled at the opportunity to carry the torch and keep the brewpub-restaurant going.”

Foster said the Apple Blossom owners have a new project in the works, and he just recently learned the space would become available.

“When we learned that Tony and his team are working on an exciting new project themselves and were looking to move out of the brewery space there, we leapt at the opportunity,” he said. “With the road improvements coming to completion on Zion Road, the location is fantastic–literally backing up to Veterans Memorial Park, with disc golf, beach volleyball, and biking and hiking trails all around, right on the banks of Lake Fayetteville.”

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Foster said Flyway will utilize the existing brewing system in the building. They’ll also take advantage of the full kitchen to continue to offer food at the location, he said.

“We’ll have a killer brewing system and facility, and the big kitchen will allow us to continue to refine the compelling food program we have at our brewery in Argenta,” he said. “We have some serious talent lined up to lead and to guide operations there.”

Flyway got its start, Foster said, brewing tiny batches of their Free Range Brown Ale in the back of Loblolly Creamery to provide a single house beer for the South on Main restaurant in Little Rock. A couple years later, he built Flyway Brewing in North Little Rock’s Argenta district in 2015, offering food and local brews at that location. The company is distributed in Arkansas by Central Moon Distributing Company.

Foster said locals can expect to find all of their favorite year-round and seasonal brews they are used to from Flyway, along with some beers that will be exclusive to the Fayetteville location.

“So many people have helped us get to where we are today, and we’re just thrilled to have this opportunity to bring even more great beer and great food to Northwest Arkansas,” he said. “It’s gonna be fun.”

Foster said no timeline for opening the Fayetteville location has been established just yet, but it’s early.

We’ll keep you posted.

Fayetteville officials this week announced the launch of a new series of Friday evening festivals in the Lower Ramble, named “Weekend Starts.”

The free events will run from 5-7 p.m. each Friday from April 28 to June 30 and will include live music, visual artists and other entertainment.

The city is collaborating with the University of Arkansas Department of Music for the events, which will include a lineup of local musicians from classical ensembles to jazz quartets.

“The music department is thrilled to be part of this series and to explore the possibilities for Fayetteville’s fabulous artistic corridor, providing a unique blend of styles and genres that reflect the high level of artistic collaboration and excellence on campus,” said Alan Gosman, and associate professor at the university who is curating the music for the events.

The performances will feature UA faculty members and students, along with collaborators from throughout the region and country, according to a news release.

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Joanna Sheehan Bell, the city’s arts and culture director, said she hopes the events can provide an immersive cultural experience that people can enjoy with their families after a busy workweek.

Sheehan Bell said while arriving via the Razorback Greenway trail is encouraged, parking is also available at the Fayetteville Public Library’s south surface parking lot, as well as on-street parking along West Avenue.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own picnic blankets or lawn chairs to enjoy the performances.

Weekend Starts lineup for April and May

April 28 – UA World Music Ensemble May 5 – UA Graduate Student Saxophone Quartet May 12 – Los Veleros Quartet (Brazilian/Afro-Cuban music w/ Fernando Valencia, William Reyes, Alisha Patillo, and Benji Wilson) May 19 – Lauren Clare Trio (w/ Lauren Clare, Garrett Jones, and Jake Hertzog) May 26 – Blue Thread (with Cristi Catt, Nikola Radan and others)

For information about upcoming performers, visit the city’s website at fayetteville-ar.gov/4232/Arts-and-Culture