The sounds of tools and the smell of wood permeate the area around the downtown bar once home to The Arrow. For the building's owners, who also own Joe's Pizza and Pasta next door, those sounds and smell are a harbinger of Texarkana history coming back to life.
The new place is The Paragon. And although the bar is a new one, the name is not. On July 12, 1882, the Paragon Saloon, then located on Broad Street and servicing Texarkana spirits in a particularly wild and woolly part of its history, caught fire that night during a violent and noisy storm, dooming 28 souls who had taken shelter from the tempest. The event is regarded as one of the most tragic in the history of Texarkana.
"We want to bring history back into this town," said William Bullock, entertainment and hospitality manager of The Paragon and one of two business partners in the enterprise. "When people come downtown and take the typical tourist picture in front of the post office, many of them don't know they are touching the history of this town. The courthouse was built in the 1930s, as an example. There are lots of even older properties and architecture all around. With the Paragon, we want to reconnect with that history."
According to Rizah "Ricky" Karaliu, owner of Joe's Pizza and Pasta and the other business partner in the project, the property has its own unique history.
"We had older saloons in Texarkana," he said. "But the Paragon is the oldest still-standing bar in the city of Texarkana and the second-oldest in the state of Arkansas.
"I owned the Arrow in its latter years, but the man running the bar and I ended up parting ways in a business sense. After that, it occurred to me and my partners to use the property to bring back some of Texarkana's past."
The Arrow Bar moved to 110 E. 36th St. in Texarkana, Ark., after decades at the site across from the Downtown Post Office and popular Photographer's Island.
The Paragon is being designed with its decor, choice of in-house entertainment, and food and drinks intended to transport customers back to those earlier years of Texarkana. Described as a piano bar, artisans are doing hands-on work in getting the Paragon ready for its public debut.
Decorated in the style of a 1920s speakeasy, it will be reminiscent of the twin boom periods from Texarkana, the late 1800s and the 1920s.
"We will be evoking the twin booms," said Chelsie Morgan, local artist and art director for The Paragon. "We want our customers to have fun and take a step back to the past. With the way we are fixing it up, decorating with artifacts like photos, these are all intended to take customers on a trip to our town's past. When we are done, all sorts of artifacts, including a vintage car, will create this effect we are going for."
The food and drink will also invoke the period.
"Steak will be our entree mainstay," Karaliu said. "But we will have a range of items in taste and price."
Wines will be featured as well as spirits intended to evoke the period.
Some may have noticed the burned-out house behind the Paragon, and the partners have plans for that, too.
"That's going to be cleared and turned into a patio," Karaliu said.
Mark Mullins, Morgan's uncle, is doing much of the skilled craftsmanship, such as the woodwork, involved in bringing the Paragon to life. He said the work being done here is second nature to him.
"I build things," he said. "A bar is a new challenge, but when you see the interior work, most notably the ceiling, that's mine."
Mullins is a lifelong Texarkana resident who can point to places near the Paragon and talk about his family.
"I was here as a child," he said. "My father was a pharmacist at the Glass Pharmacy (the sign still standing out in front of the building that is now the Texarkana location of Johnny B's). My mother worked at St. Michael's, across the street.
"I'm glad for the support from the Chamber of Commerce and city officials in helping to bring our downtown back to life," Karaliu said.