Recent growth started with highway project

Several days ago someone posted an old photo of Poplar Bluff on Facebook. It was a photograph of the Highway 67/53 intersection that was taken in the 1950s. At the top you could see the building that is currently Maya’s Restaurant. There were a lot of comments on the past use of the building — a soda bottling company, a radio station, just to name a few. There was even a billboard to the right for the Dunn Hotel which was located in Downtown Poplar Bluff. Looking at the photo made me realize how Poplar Bluff has changed over the years.

My grandfather once told me how the road to St. Louis was a gravel road and it would take almost all day to drive there, I can’t even imagine driving that far on a gravel road. Even when I was growing up it seemed like such a long drive to St. Louis. But now it’s so much better than it was before 2011. The extension of the four lane to Fredericktown has made the travel to the city so much quicker it seems like in no time you are there. That’s a big deal but there is so much more that has happened because of the 67 project.

Massingham

When Highway 67 North was two lanes it was a dangerous highway, especially at night. Our former Mayor and community leader Lloyd Mathews had a head-on collision on that stretch of road and that is just one of the many accidents that had happened. People passing each other on the two-lane highway trying to get home a little quicker sometimes never made it home. Since the highway has had the four-lane extension the accident rate has dropped 28 percent. Just imagine the number of families that represents that did not end up in the hospital or be laid up for weeks because of broken bones or even worse having to say goodbye to someone because of a horrible accident. We will never eliminate all accidents, but saving one life is worth it.

The economic benefit to Poplar Bluff has been incredible. We have once more become a major shopping area for Southeast Missouri and Northeastern Arkansas. Our retail has grown tremendously in the last few years and a lot of it is because of Highway 67. When I visit with city administrators from other cities they say “Poplar Bluff is booming.” Since 2011, Poplar Bluff has had over $200 million dollars in new commercial construction and over $64 million dollars in commercial remodeling or additions. The city has also had over $3.5 million dollars in residential construction and over $8 million dollars in residential remodeling and additions.

Because of the hard work done by Poplar Bluff Industries and community leaders, Poplar Bluff has one of the best industrial parks in the state. More than 18 percent of our workforce is employed in manufacturing. We will also have announcement coming soon of a new manufacturing facility. We are also a medical hub for the area with Black River Medical, Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, the VA Hospital and numerous medical clinics and doctor’s offices. We have a great educational system with Three Rivers College, the Poplar Bluff R-1 School District, several private schools and smaller school districts such as Neelyville and Twin Rivers. All of these schools have great teachers that care about their students.

The four-lane extension of Highway 67 started in 2005. It was a vision by some of our community leaders at that time. People like Mr. Jim Belknap, Mr. Roger Baldwin and Dr. Tom Lawson, just to name a few. Remember the saying “LEAD FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY.” They were the leaders, we followed and look what was accomplished. We have new community leaders emerging from a new generation and they have the same vision for Poplar Bluff as the gentlemen I mentioned. Just think what a bright future is ahead for Poplar Bluff.

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Mark Massingham served as finance director for the City of Poplar Bluff from 1990-2014. He was appointed to the position of city manager in July 2015. He has been married to Paula for 25 years and they have three grown children.