Peter Nierengarten (center), the city’s environmental director, discusses construction techniques and building materials used on the Lower Ramble project on an elevated trail in the Fay Jones Woods on May 4, 2022. (Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer)Fayetteville officials this week will celebrate the Lower Ramble project, which is nearing completion in the city’s cultural arts corridor.
A ceremony is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8 off West Avenue at the canopy overlook area of the Fay Jones woods south of the Fayetteville Public Library.
The Lower Ramble is part of the city’s arts corridor improvement project. It includes converting the Fay Jones woods by the library into a nature attraction. It will also turn the parking lot west of the Walton Arts Center into an outdoor civic space. Improvements to West Avenue and the Razorback Greenway are part of the project as well.
The celebration event will include remarks from Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan, followed by a self-guided walk through the Fay Jones Woods to Tanglewood Branch. Entertainment from local performers, including musicians from the University of Arkansas, are part of the planned festivities, according to Peter Nierengarten, the city’s environmental director.
Fayetteville voters in April 2019 approved a $31.6 million bond issue to build the arts corridor. The project was later named The Ramble, and was split into two areas: The Upper Ramble and Lower Ramble.
(Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer)The name is a nod to Arkansas-born musician and actor Levon Helm. As a former member of The Band, Helm hosted Midnight Ramble sessions in a barn on his property in Woodstock, New York, until his death in 2012.
The historic Fay Jones Woods space retains its name, which is an homage to well-known architect and Fayetteville resident Fay Jones. A series of elevated trails and green gathering spaces were constructed in the wooded space.
(Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer)
(Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer)
