http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/02/26/qqa-statement-on-cantrell-tear-downs Comments On: QQA statement on Cantrell tear-downs by Leslie Newell Peacock en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Sat, 25 May 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Sat, 25 May 2013 09:00:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by HeritageSaver]]> Sat, 02 Mar 2013 11:38:15 -0600 Arkansas Times
Rats, there go all my business plans.

I'll concur with Slingerland, Theodosius and Gylippus. And I've always wondered how anyone could safely get out of the driveway there. There is no room to navigate. Still, it's kind of a landmark house, so it will be missed.
Posted by radical centrist]]> Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:07:50 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Goof]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 22:16:44 -0600 Arkansas Times
DBI, you stated "Always about money with you Slinger, always about money". So what? When I work hard, I think that I have the right to determine how my money is spent.

I think I have the right to complain about a LR city that wants to blow money on a tech park. If I was the totally evil, Dick Dastardly greedy bastard you accuse me of being, I would be out buying up as much of the Forest Park slum I could in the hopes the city would buy it at a profit.

But hey... I actually side with most of the folks on this blog that it's a waste of money. And as a taxpayer, it's my right to bitch about it.

In this case, the buildings were up for sale for a long time... why did nobody offer to buy them and restore them? Because it would cost a crapload of money with little chance of return.

Yet when I bring this up, I'm called a racist.

This one example blows away the all-or-nothing attitude that is far too common ON BOTH SIDES in today's political world. I'm a moderate who sometimes sides with the liberals, and sometimes sides with the conservatives.

If I misstated something, maybe you shoudl ask me "what?" rather than cal me a racist. But by calling me a racist, you alienate me and make me less likely to consider your points in the future.
Posted by Slingerland]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:03:57 -0600 Arkansas Times
I mean these guys are taking their dollars to heaven right?

More to life than chasing that corrupt idol.
Posted by wannabee conservative]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:50:37 -0600 Arkansas Times
There is.

Buy it first.
Posted by Gylippus]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:48:39 -0600 Arkansas Times
RevJerryLee....nice post. The people who sold these 2 pieces of property don't appear to be poor black or white folks, Stephens sure ain't poor, but out of the blue comes Slinger having a fit about his taxes and screaming that 47%-takers want things for free.

Don't see how you get that out of computer owning people saying it's a damn shame such a beautiful house has to be plowed under because the richest of Arkansas rich want to build a building that will never match the beauty, architectural value or quality of workmanship displayed in this old house.

Admiring a historical building shouldn't anger the ME-MINE-MINE crowd...but it sure does and I can't help but think that money people never see the worth of an existing building.....cause they can't make money off existing anything, only off new buildings that generates more money and more money and money money money. Make the new building resemble a 1000 dollar bill and listen for all the orgasms out of the F250 King Ranch Edition crowd.
Posted by DeathbyInches]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:23:19 -0600 Arkansas Times
People in many other cities have also decided that one of the responsibilities that should come with the enjoyment of private property rights is that if you choose to become a steward of a piece of the city's historical fabric you can't then unilaterally decide to destroy it. We in Little Rock do not recognize such a responsibility. That does not mean we shouldn't though.

Mr. Stephens has amply shown through his treatment of Main Street and now Cantrell Road that there may be a need for us to consider putting up at least a speedbump between a billionaire's whims and the wrecking ball.
Posted by Timbo]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:20:32 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Little Rocker]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:53:10 -0600 Arkansas Times
If anyone wants to preserve historic buildings, they need to start making arrangements to buy them RIGHT NOW. Not when they change hands again, but this instant.

I got to witness something like this up close with my grandparents' old house. It was for sale for a couple of years, bought by a commercial developer, sat empty for several years as the developer went through a nasty zoning fight with the neighbors, and all this time there was nary a peep from the preservation folks. As soon as a date was finally set for demolition, they came out of the woodwork about preserving the cultural landmark. By then it was too late to do anything.
Posted by Gylippus]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:28:20 -0600 Arkansas Times
Wow... I guess I'm a member of the KKK and didn't realize it. I'm really an evil racist! I wonder what my Korean wife will say when she finds out that I'm actually a white supremacist?

RJL, I didn't say a thing about race or welfare. My comment about wasteful government can just as easily apply to the military or the Tech Park, both of which I'm on record here as being suspicious at best. You on the other hand have certainly made a lot of assumptions about me... with no reason... and your credibility is pretty much gone.

You might want to stop smoking crack.
Posted by Slingerland]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:20:16 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by larock72]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:12:37 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by larock72]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:11:16 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by couldn't be better]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:00:45 -0600 Arkansas Times
It goes like this:
Non-angry person: "Hey, it's a shame to tear down that old house. We're losing a piece of our history."
Angry White Man: "If you like it so much, why don't you buy it? You want the government to do EVERYTHING for you. How does that help me? I'm too busy working my ass off. I wasn't born rich like some other people I know and I didn't get a scholarship or get into a better school because my grades weren't good enough, cause I spent all my time as a skinny, country-ass kid playing basketball like I thought that was going to lead somewhere and never really explored who I was and what makes me happy in order to pursue a more fulfilling life doing what I love, instead of chasing the bottom line 24/7 at the peril of my soul and everyone who surrounds me. Instead, I have a janitorial business I started through a hook-up by one of my Kappa Sig brothers and I don't make enough with it, because I pay too much in taxes so black people don't have to work and can live high on the hog on my dime. All these Obama -loving liberals are concerned about art, beauty, history, equality, social justice, quality of life, the future and all that shit. I don't need any of that. I just need to live in a society where the only thing that matters is the bottom line and every man for himself - no protection; no security; everyone is armed and loaded for bear; and no planning for the future of anyone alive after I'm dead. I want the entire fucking world set ablaze and charred to a crisp when I'm done making money and consuming shit with the money I made. I want to live in a Ridley Scott-esque post-apocalyptic landscape, except with a mall and a Chili's near my house. Why am I even on a comment board about a historic house in Little Rock? I don't even live in Little Rock. I live in Faulkner County in a large, semi-new, crappily built house that looks like a big Jim Walter home that came with the arched brick portico option and vinyl windows and that's what everyone should aspire to live in. It's not weird looking. It doesn't need paint and, when I'm done with it, they can fold it up and build another one just like it and the other 30 houses just like it that sit within the 1/4 mile square behind the rock sign that says Hickory Pointe, or some shit like that. If it wasn't for all the gov'ment handouts, my wife and I would have matching F250 King Ranch Editions with wide black rims. Your nanny state is robbing me of MY ENTITLEMENTS and, goddamit, I DESERVE them!!!
Posted by RevJerryLee]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:55:57 -0600 Arkansas Times
Yep. If so many people want to preserve old buildings, they need to get with their current owners today and make arrangements to buy them. Waiting until the bulldozers are on their way isn't going to work.
Posted by Gylippus]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:17:32 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by joanimal]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:34:43 -0600 Arkansas Times
It's easy to demand that SOMEBODY ELSE pay for what you want.
Posted by Slingerland]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:51:48 -0600 Arkansas Times
The City's interest is supposed to be in "highest and best use" (as in allowing it and protecting it via zoning). Not sure when the Commercial Direct Mail warehouse was allowed to go in, but I think that (and most of what lies a couple of blocks behind these homes) did more to condemn these buildings than anything else. The busyness and wideness of Cantrell here (coupled with the lack of driveway/parking for the building) make ingress and egress a nightmare. That big ole school Warren has helped pay for is actually the *best* thing about the neighborhood (with maybe a shout-out finally to the resurrected Packet House - long-term success there tbd). And I genuinely doubt more than three people, if that, will mourn these homes coming down. But there are many worse things in Little Rock to be mourning in front of this.
Posted by Theodosius]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:51:42 -0600 Arkansas Times
Like no one mourned when Don W. Reynolds died, no one will mourn when Warren Stephens dies. A lot of LR people will mourn when this old house hits the ground because it brought a little happiness to their eyes. But let us go back to thinking about money, shall we?
Posted by DeathbyInches]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:40:16 -0600 Arkansas Times
I stand by my comments last night: it's a beautiful building, but we don't know the underlying condition. Current EPA regs are a nightmare if a landlord tries to restore beautiful old buildings. And last, this particular corner of Cantrell is not appealing to residential tenants.

It's their property. If the QQA wants to try and be bossy, then they should pony up the money.
Posted by Slingerland]]> Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:20:00 -0600 Arkansas Times