April 2015
| Business World
89
structure designed to deliver ecological ser-
vices in addition to urban amenities.
Combining affordable housing and an arts-
based mixed development environment, the
retrofit and urban designed plan caters to a
new creative economy, while maintaining its
historically sensitive contexts. The change in
approach – from traditional retail spaces to
the aggregation of cultural arts – was an en-
deavor that relied upon significant partner-
ships and grants to make it a tangible reality.
The City of Little Rock has received numer-
ous investments from the private sector –
somewhere in the region of $76 million.
“We received an art place grant and an edu-
cational foundation of American grant for
$550,000”, Stodola said. “We are now able to
put in the latest and greatest in LED lighting
for signage, for arts organizations for ticker
tape for really interesting streetscape lights,
light gardens, it’s going to be a mini Times
Square.”
An art installation made from street lamps
from different eras of city neighbourhoods
lights up the Creative Corridor. The re-us-
ing of old material – mainly oak from old
scrapped rail cars in apartment buildings –
show Little Rock’s affinity for charm, char-
acter and continuity. Perhaps these aesthetics
are on display to honor the past before mov-
ing forward. Or perhaps they are mementos
to a time when things were not as vibrant,
busy and alive.
“It has exceeded our expectations,” Stodola
told the National Endowment for the Arts
when asked about the Creative Corridor. “It
has gone from a neglected and almost totally
abandoned Main Street to a thriving 24/7
