Design project to target LR's Main Street corridor

LITTLE ROCK — Urban designers and architects are visiting Little Rock's Main Street this week as part of a three-day design project sponsored by the Mayors' Institute on City Design.

The design team of four professionals from across the country will meet with downtown property owners, city officials and residents to create a plan for redeveloping the Main Street corridor from Markham Street south to Interstate 630.

There will be two opportunities for the public to meet with the design team. There will be a reception at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, 1 Chamber Plaza featuring some remarks from the design team.

The second session will be at 3 p.m. Friday and will focus on what the design team gleaned from the three days and what the city can do in the future for Main Street.

Mayor Mark Stodola announced the project in his State of the City address in March. The organization, which is affiliated with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, chose Little Rock and four other cities to send design teams to study. All mayors had attended previous institute conferences and gave presentations about the challenges their cities faced.