UACDC TO HOLD RECEPTION TO CELEBRATE LAUNCH OF DELTA INITIATIVE AND HONOR WINTHROP ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION FOR GRANT AWARDS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas Community Design Center (UACDC), a division of the School of Architecture, will hold a reception from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Bank of Fayetteville to celebrate the launch of the Delta Research and Design Center and honor the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation for providing a grant to make it possible. The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation has provided grants to the UACDC totaling $346,000.

Members of the media are invited to attend the reception to learn more about this important outreach project and how it impacts residents of eastern Arkansas, tour the Community Design Center and meet key administrators involved with the project from the School of Architecture.

The Delta Center will help towns and cities in the region to develop plans and programs for physical, economic, educational and social regeneration. Residents and businesses in communities such as Marvell, Clarendon, Marianna and Helena will benefit from the Center.

Speakers at the reception will include:

• John Lewis, president of the Bank of Fayetteville and board member of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
• Sybil Hampton, executive director of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
• Susan Thomas, director of the Delta Center
• David Evan Glasser, UACDC director and holder of the Steven L. Anderson Chair in Urban Studies
• Jeff Shannon, interim dean for the School of Architecture
• G. David Gearhart, vice chancellor for University Advancement

BACKGROUND: The UACDC provides long-term physical planning and design services to communities throughout Arkansas that have neither the resources nor staff to undertake these types of projects themselves. The Center serves as an advocate for Arkansas towns and cities by helping communities identify civic projects they can carry out with the services of design professionals — architects, landscape architects or engineers. Projects emphasize: maintaining the quality and character of historic downtown areas; promoting local efforts to counter sprawl into the surrounding countryside; and encouraging preservation of open space near towns. The UACDC often provides projects and opportunities in which UA School of Architecture students may participate.