LITTLE ROCK — In an attempt to satisfy critics by better blending a River Rail trolley barn addition with North Little Rock's historic downtown, Central Arkansas Transit Authority's board is considering a greener, street-friendly design.
CATA's board of directors received an overview Tuesday of the newest design for expanding the streetcar maintenance and storage building off Seventh and Main streets in North Little Rock, but didn't take any action.
The new concept includes evergreen trees on either side of a raised viewing platform with windows facing Main Street for visitors to be able to look at the streetcars. On the opposite side, a mural possibly showing streetcars over the last century would dress up the barn's back wall.
The $29 million River Rail operates in Little Rock's and North Little Rock's downtowns.
"It's reminiscent of a loadingplatform at a train station," John Sloan of Wittenberg, Delony and Davidson, a Little Rock architectural firm, said of the latest design. "A mural on the back side, really basically just an idea, would show the progression of streetcars, how the character of trolley cars changed. It could be anything."
CATA directors in June approved an expansion design for the mostly metal building. The plan, however, drew objections from the city's Historic District Commission that wanted more brick on both the existing building and on the planned addition.
As an alternative to adding brick, Sloan said designers came up with "a way for veiling the building" by using 10 evergreens to block the building from street views.
"This introduces more green space," CATA Executive Director Betty Wineland told the board.
Whether costs will prohibit either concept is unknown.
Putting brick on all of the existing facility, including the addition, would cost about $1.25 million, Wineland said after the meeting. The newest concept would cost about $706,000.
Both figures are more than the $500,000 CATA budgeted for the expansion.
"It needs to be dressed up," said Ron Copeland, a CATA board member. "I think it needs to be more than a warehouse or a barn."
The trolley barn is within the city's Argenta Historic District. The Historic District Commission oversees building design and exterior construction within such districts.
Some members, and North Little Rock Alderman Murry Witcher, have said they recalled CATA plans from 2001 to add more brick to the existing building before any expansion is done.
Having seen a version of the newest plans, commissionExecutive Director Sandra Taylor-Smith said she believes the concept is more appealing and fitting for the district's historic character.
"The landscaping really softens the building," Taylor-Smith said. "I particularly like the platform where people could go look into the barn. That is something we had talked about early on as part of it being a tourist attraction."
The 4,860-square-foot addition to the existing 9,200-square-foot trolley barn would house River Rail's two newest streetcars. The current building, opened in 2003, can store four of River Rail's five streetcars.
The streetcars were added for the second phase, opened in February, to the Clinton presidential library and Heifer International east of Interstate 30 in Little Rock. When more trolleys are added, the building could be expanded further. The first phase of the River Rail opened in November 2004.
Arkansas, Pages 15 on 10/24/2007