12th Street project in rebranding push; residents asked to pitch ideas

To drive more business growth and jobs to Little Rock’s 12th Street corridor, city and community leaders are turning to fellow residents to collect branding ideas.

The branding brainstorming is a continuation of a 10-year effort to grow and develop the area that began in 2008 with a yearlong process that culminated in a strategic revitalization plan.

Since the start, more than $40 million has been invested along the corridor by the city, public agencies and private businesses, officials said.

They pointed to the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center, a $12 million project; the city’s 12th Street police station, which represents another $12 million; the University of Arkansas for Medical Science’s wellness center; the Better Community Developers Empowerment Center; the St. Mark Baptist Church Children and Youth Center; the 20th Century Club of Little Rock; and Garden Inn and Suites, all built within the past decade.

About $8 million in federal funding also has gone to the area through a neighborhood stabilization grant program.

To ensure that growth isn’t stagnant and that more investments are made in the community, there must be a branding effort, officials said.

The Jump Start 12th Street Committee, made up of community leaders and city staff members, opened an idea campaign Thursday to seek input from community members.

“It’s a huge project. I truly feel the city wants us to have input into what transpires of this, including the branding of the area, and we need to have your ideas about how would you describe, what name would you use to describe, this area that you call home,” said Rohn Muse, a member of the committee and president of the Forest Hills Neighborhood Association.

Muse is also running for the Ward 2 position on the city Board of Directors this year.

He said neighborhoods within the corridor include Forrest Hills, War Memorial, Fair Park, Oak Forest, Love, Hope, Stephens Area Faith, and the Pine to Woodrow area.

Ward 2 City Director Ken Richardson has made revitalization of the area a focus of his since being elected in 2007.

“This process was community involved and community engaged. Simply put, this was something done with the community rather than for the community or at the community or to the community,” Richardson said at an announcement event Thursday.

The broad boundaries of the 12th Street corridor are Interstate 30 to the north, Woodrow Street to the east, 15th Street to the south and University Avenue to the west.

The Jump Start initiative focuses on a subsection of that area, bounded by Interstate 30 to the north, Maple Street to the east, 14th Street to the south and Lewis Street to the west.

Richardson said gang activity and crime in the area have been strongest in places where the sense of community is weakest. He said high unemployment and underemployment also are precursors to criminal activity.

So to brand the area to investors and potential job creators is important, he said.

City officials said the effort is not to rebrand existing neighborhoods that have been staples within the community.

Residents of the area are asked to give their ideas on a name for the community and any other branding thoughts by emailing JumpStart12thStreet@littlerock.gov, communicating via the Jumpstart Little Rock Facebook page or filling out a survey in person at the Willie Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center at 3805 W. 12th St.