Lincoln Community Center Opening

WER Architects designed a new Community Center for the city of Lincoln. We were excited to be a part of a tour of the new facility last week. Read more about the project below from NWA Online.

August 20, 2025, LINCOLN -- Mayor Doug Hutchens had the opportunity last week to show how the city is using local tax dollars to benefit the community and add to its amenities during a visit by U.S. Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers.

As Womack and others toured the new community building on Lincoln Square, expected to be finished in about a week, Hutchens told him the community building is the second project funded with a special sales tax approved by voters. A new library, now 10 years old, was the first project.

"This is all self-funded out of the city of Lincoln revenues," Hutchens told Womack on Tuesday, Aug. 12, during the visit.

Womack said he was impressed. "It's a shot in the arm for the community, and the community should get a pat on the back for supporting it," Womack said.

After touring the library with Hutchens and library Director Dianna Payne, Womack said, "For a town of 2,500 on the western edge of the county, you should be proud."

Nodding his head toward the community building, he added, "That is absolutely eyepopping."

Womack was on August recess from the House of Representatives, and Lincoln was one of several stops he made in the Third District. After Lincoln, he traveled to Prairie Grove for a luncheon hosted by Prairie Grove Chamber of Commerce.

Those on the community building tour include representatives of WER Architects, contractor C.R. Crawford and Legacy Bank.

The new community building has 5,887 square feet with a large, open community room, commercial kitchen, storage areas and interior and exterior restrooms. The front of the building faces Park Street, and the front entrance features stones and the arch saved from the old community building. It has two covered outside porches.

Hutchens told Womack the building will be available for rent with fees based on whether the applicant is a Lincoln resident, resident of Washington County or with a corporate entity. School groups will only have to pay a security deposit. The fee schedule will be considered by Lincoln City Council at its Aug. 19 meeting.

People already are calling the city to rent the building and get on the calendar for different events. Hutchens said the first event most likely will be a special occasion for a veteran in September.

The plan is to have a soft opening, he said, and then an official ribbon-cutting ceremony during the Arkansas Apple Festival in October. The groundbreaking ceremony for the community building was held during the festival last year.

The city is paying for the new building with $3.5 million in improvement tax bonds. In a special election held May 9, 2023, voters gave their support to extend the city's 0.625% sales tax to pay off the library debt and issue bonds for a new community building. Construction costs came in at $3.6 million from C.R. Crawford.

Womack asked Hutchens "what's next" after the community building is paid off, and Hutchens said some of the city's needs include a new municipal building and an improved courtroom and more space for the police department.