When my wife Vertis and I finished college, we traveled extensively for the next 10 years. Working for Exxon out of Benghazi, Libya, a lot of our vacations took us through much of western Europe. Instead of just visiting large cities, we spent time in small villages and always stayed in local hotels.

After we moved back to the U.S., we were shocked to find so many of our downtowns were virtually abandoned as their retail establishments and restaurants relocated to strip centers and malls.

Four years after being transferred to south Texas, we decided to move back to Arkansas. I needed a business office, and rented space in downtown El Dorado's Lion Oil building, constructed in 1926–1927 during the local oil boom. When I moved in, the city's retail district around the Courthouse Square was in the death........

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