Other days
100 YEARS AGO Aug. 27, 1921
■ CAMDEN — E. M. Sheflow of Elgin, Ill., was the lowest bidder for the job of paving a mile of Camden streets in the business district. Commissioners are Leo Berg, George R. Gordon and E. W. Copeland Sr. Only four bids were submitted, although there were a dozen or more contractors present. Several of the contractors objected to filing the certified check for $5,000, demanded by the commission. Sheflow’s bid was for $91,401.35, which calls for the paving of the center of the streets a width of 20 feet, and the necessary curbs and an elaborate system of storm sewers.
50 YEARS AGO Aug. 27, 1971
■ H. S. (Boots) Coleman, aged 56, of 6001 Asher Avenue, Board chairman of Coleman Dairy, one of Little Rock’s oldest firms, died. … Mr. Coleman was known throughout the Southwest for his interest and work with sports. He had officiated in Southwest Conference football games. He was born in Little Rock, son of the late Walter C. and Gladys Turner Coleman. He attended Little Rock public schools and was graduated from Hendrix College, where he was quarterback of the football team in 1938.
25 YEARS AGO Aug. 27, 1996
■ Cypress Chemical Co. of Helena, a chemical fertilizer company, is negotiating to buy Harmony Products Inc. of Virginia, which makes non-polluting fertilizers from chicken litter and other organic wastes. Harmony Products Inc. shareholders would receive about $3.5 million in Cypress stock under the proposed transaction. Harmony, based in Chesapeake, Va., holds seven patents on its processes for making fertilizer, company President Gregory Gill said Monday. Chicken litter has been used for fertilizer since chickens were domesticated. But even when put into pellets, Gill said, “it’s not very pleasant to handle and it cannot be spread mechanically.” So Harmony developed methods to make the substance granular, like most commercial lawn fertilizers, and add nitrogen and other needed compounds.
10 YEARS AGO Aug. 27, 2011
■ Making Main Street more enticing to people visiting the River Market District could be as simple as adding rain gardens and more trees to a street that’s now surrounded by concrete, according to the latest study on revitalizing what once was the capital city’s busiest corridor. Little Rock was one of five capital cities chosen last year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be examined by architects and landscape designers who would offer suggestions on improving the area’s aesthetics. The federal agency paid for the study as part of its Greening America’s Capitals program.
Little Rock officials asked the team for help with Main Street, home to empty storefronts, vacant lots and government offices. The street has been the focus of several studies and, more recently, a revitalization committee organized by the Downtown Partnership that is looking at improving its streetscape and changing various city policies to encourage revitalization.