5 years later, library seen as boon to area

Larry Carpenter lived and worked in St. Louis six years ago when he was approached about opening a hotel in Little Rock, a six-hour drive but home of the future Clinton Presidential Center.

Carpenter owned more than 100 properties but never a hotel. He researched the market, making several trips to Little Rock. As the other investors backed out, Carpenter stuck with the hotel project after meeting with Little Rock’s then-Mayor Jim Dailey and Skip Rutherford, the man in charge of the William J. Clinton Foundation at the time.

“I was excited then, I’m even more excited now,” said Carpenter, who moved his company’s headquarters and family to Little Rock to open the Holiday Inn PresidentialCenter off ...