Little Rock Main Street Creative Corridor image

  • Looking northwest into the Capitol Avenue Plaza

Two architects unveiled the city of Little Rock’s master plan for a cultural corridor on Main Street today. Fayetteville’s Marlon Blackwell, private architect and department head of the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas, and Steve Luoni, director of the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, presented The Creative Corridor: A Main Street Revitalization to the public for the first time today at The Rep. The city retained Blackwell and Luoni to create the plan thanks to a $150,000 Our Town Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Advertisement

Their vision for the 300 block to 600 block of Main Street that they call The Creative Corridor was vivid and grandiose, full of all the sorts of things New Urbanists salivate over — a pedestrian promenade, rain gardens, street furniture, LED lighting installations. If it was realized, Little Rock would be a beacon for urban design the world over (in fact, Mayor Stodola, in his introduction, said the plan was one of only two master plans to be shortlisted in an international master plan contest.) But, as the mayor acknowledged, whether it’s implemented or not is largely up to private dollars.

The plan hinges on a series of arts anchors that would draw crowds to the area like The Rep already does. Luoni said his group had talked with visual arts groups, dance organizations, film schools and music organizations, mentioning only The Rep and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra by name. (Luoni said the ASO board had agreed to lease space in the MM Cohn building to use for rehearsals and administrative offices, but reached after the presentation, ASO executive director Christina Littlejohn said the executive committee of the board had merely approved to move forward with lease negotiations pending approval by the full board in January.) Asked to reveal more specific names after the presentation, Stodola said he didn’t want to steal the thunder of Main Street developers.

Advertisement

Luoni said the plan was purposefully vague on recommendations for specific tenants and, beyond the arts, for specific sorts of tenants. The mayor noted, without mentioning the likes of Moses Tucker and Scott Reed by name, that there’s currently about $60 million in construction happening on Main Street. He said all the developers had “expressed a desire to move forward” with the plan.

Help to Keep Great Journalism Alive in Arkansas

Join the fight for truth and become a subscriber of the Arkansas Times. We've been battling powerful forces for 50 years through our tough, determined, and feisty journalism. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, our readers value great journalism. But we need your help to do even more. By subscribing and supporting our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage. Together, we can continue to hold the powerful accountable and bring important stories to light. Subscribe now or donate for as little as $1 and be a part of the Arkansas Times community.

Previous article Mark Martin posts that government help is “evil” on Facebook Next article Tech park eliminates old Alltel building