Little Rock River Market District - Revision history

Phil at 00:19, 9 January 2016

2016-01-09T00:19:14Z

Phil at 05:18, 25 February 2010

2010-02-25T05:18:48Z

Phil at 02:04, 30 January 2010

2010-01-30T02:04:37Z

Phil: /* Economic Impact */

2010-01-30T02:03:25Z

‎Economic Impact

Phil at 02:02, 30 January 2010

2010-01-30T02:02:58Z

Phil at 04:25, 22 May 2009

2009-05-22T04:25:49Z

Phil: /* Annual River Market Events */

2009-04-08T13:46:21Z

‎Annual River Market Events

Phil at 20:22, 24 September 2008

2008-09-24T20:22:06Z

Phil: /* History of the River Market */

2008-09-24T20:20:57Z

‎History of the River Market

Phil: /* History of the River Market */

2008-09-24T20:19:22Z

‎History of the River Market

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:19, 9 January 2016
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	Continued economic development in the River Market District is spearheaded by [[Metrocentre Improvement District]] commissioners.		Continued economic development in the River Market District is spearheaded by [[Metrocentre Improvement District]] commissioners.
−	~~[[Image:River-market-district-map.jpg\|thumb\|600px\|Aerial map of the Little Rock River Market District.]]~~

	==References==		==References==

@@ Line 92: / Line 92: @@
 The River Market Hall concept was the brainchild of Little Rock developer [[Jimmy Moses]], who conceived the market hall in the early 1980s following a visit to the [[Pike Place Market]] in Seattle, Washington, and of a local grassroots coalition of citizens, business owners, government officials, and bankers organized into the public-private [[Downtown Little Rock Partnership]]. In 1983 Moses called East Markham "one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in Little Rock" because it was "on the water, kind of like our bay" and could be redeveloped into "a real neighborhood" with "specialty niche" boutiques, retailers, and restaurants. Plans for the revitalized district were incorporated into the $42.1 million [[Project 2000]] plan put before local citizens in October 1991, but it failed by a margin of 57 to 43 percent.
-The $3.5 million market complex was eventually approved by taxpayers as part of the sweeping 1995 [[River Project]] to mitigate the economic effects of decrepit warehouse and industrial brownfield areas along both the north and south banks of the Arkansas River, expand the [[Statehouse Convention Center]] along Markham Street, and build [[ALLTEL Arena]] in North Little Rock.
+The $3.5 million market complex was eventually approved by taxpayers as part of the sweeping 1995 [[River Project]] to mitigate the economic effects of decrepit warehouse and industrial brownfield areas along both the north and south banks of the Arkansas River, expand the [[Statehouse Convention Center]] along Markham Street, and build [[ALLTEL Arena]] (now called Verizon Arena) in North Little Rock.
 The [[River Market Task Force]] that guided completion of the River Market part of the River Project was spearheaded by city director [[Dean Kumpuris]]. In 1995 Kumpuris called the project "a prime example of the way our city can accomplish great things when we work together." The market district part of the River Project collected more than $5 million, including $1.2 million in federal funds, $1.1 from the [[Capitol Improvement Bond Fund]], $200,000 from city street department coffers, $170,000 from the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, $100,000 from [[Riverfest]] promotional events, and $80,000 from the [[Central Arkansas Library System]].

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 [[Ottenheimer Hall]] (the "River Market" building), with its indoor food vendors and outdoor farmer's market pavilion, anchors the neighborhood. Ottenheimer Hall opened in 1996 at a cost of $3.5 million. The hall features restaurants, vendor stalls, shops, free public wi-fi, and other special attractions. Ottenheimer Hall currently houses a number of vendors:
 *[[Andina Café and Coffee Roastery]]
@@ Line 45: / Line 57: @@
 Movement in the district is facilitated by the [[River Rail]] streetcar system, [[My Little Rickshaw]], and the [[Downtown Navigator Program]].
 ===Annual River Market Events===

@@ Line 104: / Line 104: @@
 Continued economic development in the River Market District is spearheaded by [[Metrocentre Improvement District]] commissioners.
-[[Image:River-market-district-map.jpg|thumb|Aerial map of the Little Rock River Market District.]]
+[[Image:River-market-district-map.jpg|thumb|600px|Aerial map of the Little Rock River Market District.]]
 ==References==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:river-market-logo.jpg|thumb|River Market logo designed by Stone and Ward.]]
+[[Image:river-market-logo.jpg|thumb|300px|River Market logo designed by Stone and Ward.]]
 The '''Little Rock River Market District''' is an eight-square block public food, shopping, and entertainment nexus in the heart of downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. It is one of the major cultural hubs of Little Rock, as it is home of the [[William J. Clinton Presidential Center]], the [[Main Library]] of the Central Arkansas Library System, the [[Cox Creative Center]], the [[Museum of Discovery]], the [[Arkansas Studies Institute]], [[Riverfest Amphitheater]], [[Riverfront Park]] and the [[Arkansas River Trail]], and a number of fine art galleries. It is also increasingly becoming a residential neighborhood for young urban professionals and empty nesters.
@@ Line 77: / Line 74: @@
 *[[Sandwiching in History]]
 *[[Territorial Fair]]
+[[Image:River-market-exterior.jpg|thumb|300px|Exterior view of the River Market. Photo by Phil Frana.]]
 ===History of the River Market===

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:25, 22 May 2009
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	==External links==		==External links==
	*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBhmwue1J-0 Time lapse of mime working a corner in the River Market]		*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBhmwue1J-0 Time lapse of mime working a corner in the River Market]
		+
		+	[[Category:River Market]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:46, 8 April 2009
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	Movement in the district is facilitated by the [[River Rail]] streetcar system, [[My Little Rickshaw]], and the [[Downtown Navigator Program]].		Movement in the district is facilitated by the [[River Rail]] streetcar system, [[My Little Rickshaw]], and the [[Downtown Navigator Program]].
		+
		+	<table cellspacing="8" cellpadding="5" border="0" align="right"><tr valign="top"><td style="border: 1px solid #CEF2E0; padding: 8px; background: #F5FFFA;"><h5 style="border: 1px solid #A3BFB1; padding: 5px; background: #CEF2E0">President Clinton Avenue in the River Market</h5>{{#widget:Google Street View
		+	\|key=ABQIAAAAiRrSwYHbWvPbTIXcKFSf3BTmxVz1Sl_ReK74lEPbb1J2B_8NiRSK56XZpfI-apH57BnPecBCS1BQZw
		+	\|height=250
		+	\|width=400
		+	\|lat=34.747486
		+	\|lng=-92.265811
		+	\|yaw=99.34384137402796
		+	\|pitch=3.602484472049679
		+	\|zoom=0
		+	}}</td>
		+	<td style="border: 1px solid transparent"></td>
		+	</table>

	===Annual River Market Events===		===Annual River Market Events===

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 These suggestions were buoyed by changes in the 1981 federal tax laws which permitted investment credits for historic renovation, but the district largely continued to slide into decrepitude. By the 1990s, remembers local developer [[Rett Tucker]], "[T]here was a store that sold caskets, and that was about it."
-The first city plan to redevelop the downtown riverfront and East Markham area emerged in the 1982 [[Downtown Little Rock Development Plan]] sponsored by planning director [[Nathaniel Griffin]] and the [[Hodges firm]], which imagined pedestrian traffic in an area dominated by entertainment outlets and mixed-use developments. The city plan also imagined a move of the [[Museum of Science and History]] to the site of the [[Tenenbaum Building]] on Rock Street, in accord with the wishes of the board of trustees of the museum. At the same time Realty Associates of Jonesboro proposed a "central business improvement district" bounded by the Arkansas River, Commerce Street, Sherman Street, and Fourth Street where tax free development bonds would reenergize the Sherman Oaks condominium project, and the refurbishing of the [[Terminal Building]]. Little Rock city director [[Webster Hubbell]] proposed a new multiuse arena on East Markham and [[B. Finley Vinson]] wanted a parking garage built between the Main Street and Scott Street ramps to the [[Main Street Bridge]] at about the same time.
+The first city plan to redevelop the downtown riverfront and East Markham area emerged in the 1982 [[Downtown Little Rock Development Plan]] sponsored by planning director [[Nathaniel Griffin]] and the design firm [[Hodges, Vines, Fox, and Associates]], which imagined pedestrian traffic in an area dominated by entertainment outlets and mixed-use developments.
 The River Market Hall concept was the brainchild of Little Rock developer [[Jimmy Moses]], who conceived the market hall in the early 1980s following a visit to the [[Pike Place Market]] in Seattle, Washington, and of a local grassroots coalition of citizens, business owners, government officials, and bankers organized into the public-private [[Downtown Little Rock Partnership]]. In 1983 Moses called East Markham "one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in Little Rock" because it was "on the water, kind of like our bay" and could be redeveloped into "a real neighborhood" with "specialty niche" boutiques, retailers, and restaurants. Plans for the revitalized district were incorporated into the $42.1 million [[Project 2000]] plan put before local citizens in October 1991, but it failed by a margin of 57 to 43 percent.

@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 ===History of the River Market===
-The River Market District occupies ground that long ago had been the main landing or public wharf along the [[Arkansas River]]. Longtime residents still occasionally call it Old Town.
+The River Market District occupies ground that long ago had been the main landing or public wharf along the [[Arkansas River]]. Downtown residents still occasionally called it Old Town or the East Markham Warehouse District.
 In 1974-1975 [[Little Rock Unlimited Progress]] director [[Bob Joblin]] commissioned a study of the Little Rock downtown district including Old Town. The study's report, entitled [[New Town In-Town]] concluded that demolition of businesses and displacement of people during the 1960s [[Central Little Rock Urban Renewal Project]] had in many ways had harmed the native "character" of downtown Little Rock. Noted Joblin in the report, "We basically had the idea at first of going in with bulldozers and knocking everything down and building a lot of new apartments with restaurants and shops, tennis courts, and swimming pools." The city had successfully knocked down many buildings, but had been much less effective at filling up the now vacant lots.
-The New Town In-Town report argued that an "Old Town" bounded by Main Street, [[Interstate-30]], the [[Arkansas River]], and Seventeenth Street should be protected from further demolition activity, and the moderate-income resident populations encouraged to remain in the area by provision of regular police foot patrols. Urban residential rehabilitation was recommended over blight removal, as was the reintroduction of life to the downtown district in the evenings and on weekends. These suggestions were buoyed by changes in the 1981 federal tax laws which permitted investment credits for historic renovation.
+The 1975 New Town In-Town report argued that an "Old Town" bounded by Main Street, [[Interstate-30]], the [[Arkansas River]], and Seventeenth Street should be protected from further demolition activity, and the moderate-income resident populations encouraged to remain in the area by provision of regular police foot patrols. Urban residential rehabilitation was recommended over blight removal, as was the reintroduction of life to the downtown district in the evenings and on weekends.
+These suggestions were buoyed by changes in the 1981 federal tax laws which permitted investment credits for historic renovation, but the district largely continued to slide into decrepitude. By the 1990s, remembers local developer [[Rett Tucker]], "[T]here was a store that sold caskets, and that was about it."
 The first city plan to redevelop the downtown riverfront and East Markham area emerged in the 1983 [[Downtown Little Rock Development Plan]] sponsored by planning director [[Nathaniel Griffin]], which imagined pedestrian traffic in an area dominated by entertainment outlets and mixed-use developments. The city plan also imagined a move of the [[Museum of Science and History]] to the site of the [[Tenenbaum Building]] on Rock Street, in accord with the wishes of the board of trustees of the museum. At the same time Realty Associates of Jonesboro proposed a "central business improvement district" bounded by the Arkansas River, Commerce Street, Sherman Street, and Fourth Street where tax free development bonds would reenergize the Sherman Oaks condominium project, and the refurbishing of the [[Terminal Building]]. Little Rock city director [[Webster Hubbell]] proposed a new multiuse arena on East Markham and [[B. Finley Vinson]] wanted a parking garage built between the Main Street and Scott Street ramps to the [[Main Street Bridge]] at about the same time.