ARTS DISTRICT

The 200 Broadway Street address is on one of four blocks that border the north side of the Second Street Promenade between Simmons Bank Arena and Poplar Street in North Little Rock. The promenade is the primary east-west pedestrian-friendly walkway between the arena and Dickey-Stephens Park and passing the newly renovated One Riverfront Place building. The overall vision is to create a pedestrian-friendly corridor by framing out the existing two-block part of the promenade with buildings from the arena to Main Street and Rock Region Metro’s streetcar stop. Working with Rock Region Metro, the city plans to extend the trail from the Junction Bridge at Washington Street to the intersection of Broadway and Magnolia streets that would intersect at the beginning of the promenade at the entrance of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, adding the missing north-south pedestrian-friendly access to linking the Junction Bridge to Argenta’s historic Main Street. The development currently in the planning stages at 200 Broadway Street would include a building on the corner of Poplar Street and the promenade, and one adjacent to the trail and the promenade with a hotel connected to it and bordering the trail extension to Broadway Street. The city of North Little Rock has plans to build a conference center on the south side of the promenade between Poplar Street and Main Street. Future developments could be added to the remaining two blocks.

The community of Osceola has commemorated its musical and agricultural heritage through the installation of 36 historic markers as part of the Delta’s Cotton Highway. Six of these markers are located on an empty lot in downtown Osceola at the corner of Poplar and Hale streets. Except for a stage and six of the markers, the space is insignificant and underutilized. Main Street Osceola came together to work with landscape architect Brantley Snipes to design an innovative space to connect its history to its present-day community. The design strategically utilizes the Cotton Highway winding river insignia with hardscape elements to connect the stage to the town square. All hardscape elements will be flush, allowing both flexibility in use of space and accessibility by people of all ages and abilities. From downtown concerts to festivals and all events in between, this space will be accommodating and accessible to pedestrians from all neighborhoods in the community. Bright shade sails will be added to provide comfort for visitors to the space. The sails will be eye-catching, drawing the attention of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Instead of one large shade sail, three smaller ones will be installed to create different gathering spaces within the overall context of the site. The footprint of the insignia river triangle provides adequate hardscape, visual interest and reduced construction costs. New landscaping will be installed in order to separate vehicular traffic areas from the new plaza, protect pedestrians and complement the newly designed space. What was once a vacant, pass-through lot will now become a living intersection of history and community.

Brantley Snipes of Brantley Snipes Landscape & Design, Inc in collaboration with architect Ryan Biles of Kudzu Collective.