Remember the city of Little Rock’s long search for a day center for homeless people?
Nobody much wants it in their neighborhood. Director Erma Hendrix pitched a fit at Mayor Mark Stodola’s most recent proposal, to convert a vacant commercial building on East Ninth in the warehouse district on the west side of the airport.
So what’s up? Stodola says he now has a roster of three sites to consider, including the one on Ninth Street.
All are in Ward One, Hendrix’s ward, but he says — without elaborating — that one or the other of the new sites has features that might reduce Hendrix’s NIMBY fervor.
The city has some money set aside for the shelter, which is why it’s not listed in priorities in the pending sales tax package.
But the final selection depends in varying degrees on the ability to tap some federal stimulus money under the governor’s control for fix-up money, Stodola says. He promises more specifics soon.