Argenta Plaza to be unveiled

$5 million project features swings, stage, tall video wall

The multimillion-dollar community space in downtown North Little Rock known as Argenta Plaza will be unveiled today during the annual Northern Lights Festival.

The festival will be 5:309:30 p.m. at the $5.36 million city-owned plaza at 510 Main St. in the Argenta Arts District.

Eventually the plaza will include a “front porch” area with modern swings, a stage with a 40-foot video projection wall, a water wall and fountains, along with a “backyard” area with trees. However, not all of those features will be ready to go Saturday, according to Robert Birch, special assistant to Mayor Joe Smith.

Birch said Wednesday the fountains and waterfall won’t be operational Saturday, because the equipment had already been winterized. The backyard area, where the new First Orion headquarters is being completed, also isn’t ready yet.

“The porch swings and lights will be operational,” Birch said. “We have tested everything. We are ready to go.”

Festival plans were in limbo earlier this week because of weather forecasts calling for rain, but city spokesman Jim Billings said officials believe the rain will have moved out by Saturday afternoon.

The city also will unveil its 38-foot Christmas tree and a 4-foot star as part of the plaza’s grand opening.

Smith is recovering after undergoing an emergency appendectomy last week, but Birch said the mayor is expected to make an appearance to turn on the Christmas tree’s lights.

The event also will include rides in horse-drawn carriages; a market that includes goods made locally; food trucks and libations; a children’s zone that will include photos with Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus; an opportunity to make holiday cards for veterans; story time with Laman Library on a Rock Region Metro streetcar; carolers and actors from Argenta Community Theater in period costumes performing scenes from the holiday classic A Christmas Carol.

Free street parking will be available downtown.

The Sertoma Christmas Parade also will be held the day after the festival at 2 p.m. on Main Street.

A second grand opening of the plaza is scheduled for May, when the plaza will unveil its fountains and water wall.

The plaza is to be the centerpiece for an area that eventually will include the First Orion office building on the back area of the plaza and a Power & Ice indoor food court on the north side.

The three-story, 600 Main Building, also to the plaza’s north, will house two private companies along with the North Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“It will give First Orion this open air environment where people will be able to work outside and have conversations,” Birch said.

“It will give the entire square block radius this Google campus-like environment.”

Argenta Plaza will be available to rent for public and private events, and a 2020 event lineup is already in the works, officials said.

“We want people who come from out of town to go to Dickey-Stephens [ballpark] or Simmons Bank Arena and give them a reason to stay a little bit longer,” he said. “It has also sparked $50 million in investments around the plaza.”

Birch said the plaza project, which started in October 2018, is unique because it was designed to mirror the image of Arkansas. The design incorporated patterns of the oxbow lakes created by the Arkansas River on the city’s east side. The central “interactive water feature” of the lighted, jetted fountains and the grassy berms follow that pattern.

Birch said the front porch area of the plaza and the accompanying swings are supposed to give off the image of a lumber drying yard because the area was originally a wood curing yard in the 1880s. The red oak, black oak and black gum trees that line Argenta Plaza are native to the area as well.

The 50,000 concrete pavers in the plaza were laid by hand to give the proper fit and right aesthetic for the new gathering place, and a 40-foot-tall video screen will allow visitors to play games and watch movies.

Birch said the wall itself is a sight to behold.

“When the wall is lit up, it’s a piece of art,” he said.

Birch said the space can host concerts, and even has the utility for a farmers market.

“There really are unlimited things you can do with it,” he said.