Naming of plaza for NLR delayed
Panelists consider 3 favorite options
Deciding the catchiest name for a planned plaza in downtown North Little Rock is taking a little longer than mapped out, a city spokesman said Tuesday.
The winning name for the public plaza at Main Street between Fifth and Sixth streets originally was to be announced at next Monday’s City Council meeting, but all six members of a naming committee hadn’t submitted their favorites as of Tuesday, city Communications Director Nathan Hamilton said.
The delay also has postponed the start of public online voting until the list of five finalists is determined. Social media voting, already pushed back once, was to have been completed by Tuesday.
“Some of the committee members haven’t yet selected their final three,” said Hamilton, who is overseeing the naming process as a committee member. “So we don’t have a top five yet.”
After social media voting takes place, Mayor Joe Smith will make a recommendation of one name to the City Council for its confirmation.
The resident who submits the plaza’s winning name is to receive a pass for two for free admission to all public events during the plaza’s first year of operation.
Whether the plaza’s winning name will be ready by the following City Council meeting Feb. 26 depends on finalizing the choices, Hamilton said.
“It could be by the next [Feb. 26] meeting,” Hamilton said. “As soon as the final tabulations are in, as soon as possible we’ll do the social media voting.
“It’s just a scheduling problem,” Hamilton said of the delays. “Getting people’s schedules together, making sure everyone’s schedules work out.”
Construction of the plaza that is to feature jetted fountains, a free-standing water wall and oxbow lake-shaped berms is to begin in April, Smith has said. Completion is expected by year’s end.
Smith opened up the naming of the plaza to city residents through social media starting Oct. 2. By the submission deadline of Dec. 1, the city had received 108 entries. The naming committee then narrowed those choices to 19, Hamilton said Tuesday.
Committee members are now to rank their top three choices from among those 19, using a points system of 3 points for the first choice, 2 for the second favorite and 1 for the third. The five with the highest number of points will be the finalists.
Once those five names are determined, the public online voting is to start. The public’s input will be part of the process, but won’t be the determining factor for the winning name, Hamilton has said.
Besides Hamilton, committee members consist of Smith, council member Maurice Taylor, city Convention and Visitor Bureau Executive Director Bob Major, North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Owens, and Susannah Drake of DLANDstudio Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Brooklyn, N.Y., whose company designed the plaza in conjunction with Taggart Architects, North Little Rock.