Springdale mayor outlines growth, development and new services in 2025 State of the City

Mayor Lawrence Hawkins III used Springdale’s 2025 State of the City address to highlight growth goals, recent redevelopment projects and a series of service and capital improvements city departments plan to deliver this year.

The mayor said the evening’s theme is “connection,” and said the city’s vision is “to connect with all 11,000 residents and to foster a strong sense of community,” noting a two- to three-year goal to grow the population to about 13,000.

Why it matters: officials presented multiple near-term projects that involve grants, private investment and changes to city operations that could affect residents’ daily experience — from road alignments and a multimodal path to new apartments, expanded industrial employers and community events that rely on public-private partnerships.

Parks and recreation: Charlie Wilson, director of Parks and Recreation, described facility upgrades and programming. He said the department manages roughly 20 acres of parkland, six pocket parks and a 72,000-square-foot community center. Wilson said a private donor gave “about $600,000 to update two of our parks, Underwood Park and Cameron,” and that upgrades there included new playground equipment, picnic shelters and a walking-path connection to Grandin. He also announced a new PretzelFest event in August, produced with Deach/Costco, featuring food, music and a drone light show.

Public works and capital projects: Chris Miller, assistant public works director, said the city maintains about 39 lane miles in a five-square-mile service area and operates urban forestry, stormwater and fleet services. Miller reported last year’s curbside numbers: roughly 3,900 tons of solid waste collected and 61 tons of recycling. He described near-term capital work including the Northland Boulevard project (expected to continue about a year and a half) and plans…