City of Little Rock, studioMAIN and Partners Awarded Grant for Ninth Street Demonstration Project

LITTLE ROCK - The City of Little Rock, studioMAIN, and other community stakeholders have been awarded a grant from Smart Growth America to support innovative ways to enhance and promote historic West Ninth Street in Downtown Little Rock.

The grant aids the City's progress toward implementation of the Downtown Master Plan, adopted by the Little Rock Board of Directors last year. The initiative will celebrate one of the City's most storied corridors through a month-long demonstration project set to take place next Spring. The effort will create an engaging, walkable public art space while improving safety and accessibility for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

Ninth Street was a hub for commerce and culture, especially for Little Rock's Black community, before construction of Interstate 630 displaced many residents and businesses.

"Historic West Ninth Street is a fundamental piece of the fabric of our City, and though divisive infrastructure tore through its heart, its soul can never be erased," Mayor Frank Scott, Jr., said. "I made clear that re-imagination of Ninth Street should be a priority of the Downtown Master Plan, and I am excited to see the transformative ideas funded through this grant."

Little Rock was one of only three cities to receive the Smart Growth America Community Connectors Initiative grant. Others selected were Akron, Ohio, and Baltimore County, Maryland.

The grant is for $25,000 plus technical assistance valued at $20,000. In addition to the City and studioMAIN, partners are the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, Philander Smith University, Dunbar Historic Neighborhood Association, the Central Arkansas Library System, Velocity Graphics, Our Little Rock, and Dreamland Ballroom.

The demonstration project will take place on Ninth Street west of Broadway Street and east of State Street.

For more information, visit the project's webpage.