April 2015
| Business World
87
condos, and other new construction all de-
veloped and created excitement going east
and west along the river, but as it intersected
withMain Street, Main Street had been dead
for 30 years.”
SYNERGY IN THE CITY
In a city filled such promise, growth and
youthful exuberance, Main Street needed
salvation. For all the charm, history and pag-
eantry that Little Rock was known for, its
urban highpoint was non-existent. While
real estate development was booming, some-
thing was missing from the downtown core.
So when Stodola was first elected mayor in
2007, his mission was to change that and
bring life back into Little Rock.
“I was introduced to the Mayors Institute on
City Design where mayors, engineers and ar-
chitects take a project and tear it down and
suggest functions to help development,” he
said. “I came up with an idea for downtown
Main Street to synergize the area by getting
arts organizations to move in and collabo-
rate together.”
Using art and the freedom of expression as a
vehicle to empower interactions and drive a
city forward, Stodola’s inspiration came from
