Owners of new bar aim to bring history back to Texarkana

The Paragon, located at the property that used to be The Arrow across from the federal building in downtown, is almost ready to open and show Texarkana what the owners have been preparing these past several months

"We've had our planned opening date pushed back a bit, but we intend to open within a month," said Kenny Karaliu, co-owner of Joe's Pizza and Pasta and brother of Rizah "Ricky" Karaliu.

"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."

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.

According to Rizah "Ricky" Karaliu, 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.

The Paragon will have its own unique menu, serving its own food and drinks and will seek to hearken back to an earlier era in Texarkana's rich history.

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