PHILANDER SMITH NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPS VISION

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas Community Design Center (UACDC) will present a study for revitalizing the Philander Smith Neighborhood, located southeast of the State Capitol building between MLK Boulevard and Broadway in Little Rock, at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 7.

The neighborhood is one of rich heritage and of great historical importance to Little Rock and the nation. African-American leaders, including civil rights organizer Daisy Lee Gatson Bates, Little Rock's first black public school teacher Charlotte Stephens, Republican party leaders Mifflin Gibbs and John Bush, and prominent attorney Scipio Jones all lived in the area, where black businesses, churches and schools thrived.

The UACDC report examines opportunities for strengthening the community and neighborhood identity, promoting commercial redevelopment, creating affordable housing opportunities and rehabilitating neighborhood structures.

Momentum for the neighborhood study began last summer, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) closed the Village Square urban renewal housing project, located across the street from the Dunbar Community Center. The outdated brick buildings have since been demolished, and the property has been deeded to Philander Smith College. Proper redevelopment of this site is seen as essential to the health of the neighborhood and the college and is critically important in securing the interests of local residents now that market development pressures are mounting in downtown Little Rock.

The goal of the comprehensive planning study is to foster renewed interest in this important neighborhood and create a vehicle for continuation of a community—based revitalization effort. UACDC has prepared an inventory and analysis of the community and has investigated a number of issues including historical patterns of development, demographics, physical and environmental conditions, zoning, vehicular and pedestrian circulation and opportunities and obstacles for civic and private investment.

Working with Philander Smith College, the Philander Smith College Community Development Corporation, church leaders and neighborhood residents, the UACDC studio focused on how to strengthen the neighborhood's sense of place and how to accomplish the physical improvements needed for a vital community. These renewal strategies, as well as economic and policy reports, will be presented Tuesday night.

Partnered with UACDC in the planning study is the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER). The study is funded by a grant from the Central Arkansas Development Council (CADC) and Regions Bank, under the direction of the Philander Smith College Community Development Corporation. UACDC is supported by a generous grant of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. UA staff and students prepared the study, and those who participated directly in the work include:

University of Arkansas Community Design Center

Jill Anthes, project director

Eden Price, studio instructor

Valerie Hunt, JD, Winthrop Rockefeller Doctoral Fellow in Public Policy

University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research

Dr. Jeff Collins, director

Yi Liu, research economist and planner

School of Architecture students

Stephen Bortowski 5^th year architecture Maumelle, Ark.

Cheryl Hall 4^th year architecture Rogers, Ark.

Richard John 5^th year architecture Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania East Africa

Eduardo Serrate 4^th year architecture Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Brian Wells 5^th year architecture Ozark, Ark.

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