Farmer held a town hall meeting Thursday night, ultimately drawing more than 100 people to discuss bettering downtown.

Benton’s newly appointed mayor has a dream to start revitalizing from the inside out.

“Together we can do more,” said Tom Farmer, mayor of Benton.

Farmer shares a vision with the community he now serves.

"We want people when they come to say man look at this, this is special,” he said.

Farmer held a town hall meeting Thursday night, ultimately drawing more than 100 people to discuss bettering downtown.

"It's such a nice place to come down after work and walk around the city,” said Jill Ruhlman, a citizen.

If you look around in the heart of Benton, you’ll find unique places to visit, but something else stands out too.

“If you travel down the I-30 corridor, there’s five exists to downtown Benton,” said Farmer. “But, when you get to downtown Benton, you find some things that aren't up to par, so to speak.”

Farmer speaks of vacant buildings sitting along many downtown streets. His plan is to work with the community to bring purpose back to those buildings, eventually bringing life back to the hub of the city.

"I would like to see restaurants opened later, more kid-friendly ones, and more shopping diversity,” said Shanley Spurlock, a constant guest to Benton.

“Maybe have a really nice bar since saline county is now wet,” said another resident. “That would attract more people to downtown area.”

Hundreds of ideas are written on paper, sitting on Farmer's desk, ones that matter.

"It's all about dreaming big and doing what we can to make life better for the citizens of Benton,” he said "The end of next week we hope to have several committees formed and ready and get them activated figuring out what's our next step."