Arkansas Blog

As a hiring manager who recruits outside of the central Arkansas area I am always in need of materials to give to our prospective employees in order to show them what a great city this is.

However, every time I've been there they retirees who I assume are volunteers have not been friendly and they are only reluctantly helpful. They looked annoyed that I was interrupting their idle gossip to explain that while I was a resident of the area I was trying to entice people to move to the area by offering them professional, well paying jobs. They were willing to give up a few of their precious brochures, but if I asked for too many, well they couldn't possibly give that many up, it would just be too much trouble for them. So, I was pushed off to another agency.

Maybe if they had more pleasant people working there it might be more successful.

It's not like visitors aren't coming to Little Rock, they just aren't stopping by Curran Hall... This isn't about a Visitors Cener; it's about some more Clinton-haters not wanting Bubba's name attached to this building. Ultimately, there's no argument that leasing the property to the school wouldn't be a win for Curran Hall -- people might actually start dropping by.

Its also about accountablitiy and deception. Why can't we ever get any real planning and honest discussion out of these people. Everything is a half baked idea and a con.

How would a visitor even know that the visitor center existed at Curran Hall? I guess the visitor center is supposed to be some kind of secret.

It is sad that there is no sign on Interstate 30 indicating that there is a visitors center there.

Clinton-haters? Don't get that one.
More like bait-and-switch haters. If I'd given money to Curran Hall to be a visitors center, I'd be P.O.ed, too.
Yes, seems like a sign on the Interstate would help immeasurably.

It's the same old deceitful, deceptive and decrepit folks making their same old provincial, private and putrid decisions. The A&P is a witless, spineless gang of double talking group non-thinkers. They don't commit any money to hire people to staff the site, don't advertise [isn't that their job -- oops, they really don't work they just play at being influential], so they can be in a position to do favors for their friends, not promote the community for the citizens. Someone should follow the money on this sick situation.

Hey Moscow, it still is a visitor's center. It simply has an additional use. This isn't about hating Clinton or baiting and switching. This is about Johnny Gill not getting his ass kissed and feeling left out. He is hiding behind this public discussion BS when in reality he is the mastermind of the hidden meeting concept from his days in the water works merger.

This is not a big deal.

I've stopped at the visitor center on several occasions to get information about LR sights for out-of-town guests. Unlike "maybe it's the employees" my trips to the center have been fine. The staff has in every case been pleasant and helpful.

As for "Anonymous" #1 I'm certainly not a "Clinton Hater". The situation with the visitor center has nothing to do with the Clinton. Many, in fact most, of the citizens opposing leasing the center are Democrats and supporters of the former President.

The way in which this situation has been handled flys in the face of good government. There's every reason to believe a deal was cut behind closed doors. There was no public notice and apparently the majority of the city board was unaware of the Advertising and Promotion Commissions actions.

This sorry episode is another good reason to junk the current form of city government and return to a mayor/council system.

>> it still is a visitor's center. It simply has an additional use.<<

Right RT, by becoming classroom space for the Clinton School the center's function as a visitor center will be "enhanced". This is the party line put out by the A&P Commission director. It is unclear to me how replacing the staff with a kiosk can be considered an enhancement. Please explain to me why visitors would come to Curran Hall to see four rooms set up as classroom space?

I was at the City Board Meeting on June 13 when Skip and the A & P Folks took the WHOLE MEETING HOSTAGE for upwards of an HOUR of time that WASN'T ON THE AGENDA and lots of fine, hardworking citizens got to stay late and later to accomodate their posturing. And now they want to limit PUBLIC COMMENT to their 1 hour time frame. TYPICAL. If it isn't what THEY want...they'll stick it to everybody else...PATHETIC. The height of rudeness at the June 13th meeting. And people can just prepare themselves to be talked down to. Everybody needs to take a stop watch and be sure that Skip and Co. don't monopolize all the time...they are SUCH POMPOUS SMALL PEOPLE.

Make not mistake. John Gill has long been a clinton hater. He and his firm led the effort to disbar clinton. They also tried to defeat the library(check out the failed tax election that excluded the land around the library for development). This has nothing to do with the fact that the visitor center is lame and not resourceful. Everything Gill touches fails,(take note of the failed highway election during Tucker's tenure, Gill led that as well where it receievd a whopping 15% in support of it) so it is of no surprise that the visitor center has failed. At least it will be used, and I think the school will pull more people to curran hall.

There are actually many large donors for the RESOTORATION of Curran Hall who are in favor of leasing it to the school. They want to see the building put to good use.

And the myth that the Visitors Center is not promoted and advertised by the Commission is false as well. I've seen it promoted in visitor guides and brochures, and there are also SIGNS around the area directing visitors to the center. That there aren't, is just plain myth.

You can't make visitors go to a center just because it's there. Why not put the facitlity to a good use?