Little Rock notebook
Call goes out for art to spruce up alleys
The Downtown Little Rock Partnership is accepting submissions for art that will decorate alley-facing doors throughout the downtown area.
The “Between the Bricks” project is an initiative of the nonprofit’s Public Spaces committee, the group announced last week.
Artists may submit up to two of their pieces for consideration. Submitted images must fit either a single door measuring 36 inches by 84 inches or a double door measuring 72 inches by 84 inches.
Once accepted, sample images of the artwork will be put in an online gallery on downtownlr.com, and business owners and sponsors will be able to select which pieces they want turned into vinyl reproductions to adorn doors on their property.
If selected, the artist will receive $300. Property owners interested in putting artwork on their doors pay $600 for a single door or $750 for a double door. The price includes all installation and artist compensation costs.
Information on submissions and sponsorships can be found at downtownlr. com/pages/between-thebricks-alley-art-project/ or by calling the nonprofit at (501) 375-0121.
Update offered on gaining trail funds
The city will apply this fall for grant funding for the second phase of a pathway that will connect the Arkansas River Trail to Central High School, Bike Friendly Community Committee member Brett Budolfson told city directors Tuesday.
The planned 1.85-mile biking and walking trail would go from the Arkansas River Trail to Union Station to the Capitol Mall to Central High. The city is financing the trail through three phases of grant funding from the Federal Lands Access Program.
According to the city’s website, the first phase, which is underway, addresses safety improvements and erosion control on the river trail.
The second phase of grant funding will finance a 0.7-mile portion of the trail from LaHarpe Boulevard to the Capitol Mall, and the last portion would finance the trail from the Capitol Mall to Central High.
Proposal dropped for burlesque club
A proposed club featuring “female entertainers dancing in a burlesque fashion” won’t be opening in a community south of the city.
The owners of the property at 10305 Arch Street Pike, near the unincorporated Pulaski County community of Landmark, withdrew their application, attorney Stephen Giles said last week.
The area’s zoning had been scheduled to go before city directors last Tuesday, after the Planning Commission’s denial of the owners’ request for zoning to allow a private club. The owners appealed the Planning Commission’s decision, but later withdrew the appeal from the board’s agenda because of a lack of support among city directors, Giles said.
The property is owned by Choice Equity Investments LLC. Giles said the owners have “lots of different options” for developing that property.
“Unfortunately for my clients, they’ll have to make other arrangements,” he said. “Right now, they’re not going to do the private club.”
Many residents had objected to the proposed club, including Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, who represents the area. Critics of the plan said the club would be a “sexually oriented business” and a distraction in the quiet community.