LITTLE ROCK — Ground broken
for fire station
Little Rock Fire Chief Greg Summers broke ground Tuesday on his department’s first new fire station in nearly two decades.
The $2.6 million station at Rahling and Taylor Loop roads will take a year to complete. Dayco Construction of Damascus won the bid last month to build Fire Station No. 23. It was the second time the city bid out the project; the first try fell through after city officials realized they didn’t have enough money to complete the project.
The city received a $2 million federal stimulus grant to build the 8,000-square-foot station and had $400,000 set aside from a past short-term loan.
Little Rock went forward with awarding the bid only after voters in September approved a sales-tax increase, with some of the new revenue earmarked for the fire station and a second one, also west of Interstate 430, whose exact site hasn’t been determined.
The capital city is five fire stations short for its size and population, according to the Insurance Service Organization, which rates cities’ fire protection. The last new fire station was built in 1992.
How U.S. grants
to be spent OK’d
Little Rock city directors approved allocations Tuesday of the city’s annual Community Development Block Grant and other federal programs.
The city expects to receive about $2.7 million in 2012 for the multiple programs,which include assistance for residents with AIDS and homeowners who have signed up for house repairs.
The city expects to spend $604,835 on home rehabilitation and $100,000 on the Save-A-Home program from the $1.6 million Community Development Block Grant.
Area nonprofits helping low-income residents also will receive a large chunk of the funding.
St. Vincent Health Clinic East will receive $174,619 and Carelink’s Meals on Wheels is to receive $60,000. The Delta Presents Outreach Foundation Inc. will receive $50,000, and World Changers, a group that every year rehabilitates houses in Little Rock, will receive $50,000.
The city’s Land Bank will receive $150,000 to help purchase vacant properties for redevelopment. More than $70,000 is earmarked for sidewalks on Marshall Street, South State Street and Battery Street. The John Barrow Senior Activity Center will receive $22,711.
An additional $1.2 million in Home Investment Partnership funds will be used on rehabilitation and other housing projects.
Little Rock has to take applications every year for grant allocations and hold a public hearing before city directors vote on the spending and the city’s plan is turned in to the federal government.
College to get lot in Land Bank sale
Arkansas Baptist College will receive one of the first properties for sale from Little Rock’s Land Bank.
City directors approved selling a 1,472-square-foot vacant lot to the college, which plans to use the property for a parking lot for a future dormitory.
The lot at 1805 Wolfe St. was donated to the Land Bank in July 2010, and the city spent $821.52 on acquiring the property. Arkansas Baptist is paying $1,300 for the property, and the money is expected to go back into the Land Bank program.
The city has donated several properties from the Land Bank’s inventory to nonprofits working with the city on building new houses. The board’s Oct. 18 vote was the first time the city actually sold one of the Land Bank’s properties.
The Land Bank Commission was set up in 2008 to help acquire vacant lots or abandoned houses in older neighborhoods south of Interstate 630 for redevelopment. The commission has acquired dozens of properties, but only a few are available for resale because of title matters. And some of the properties for sale are restricted for low-income housing projects because the land was acquired with federal Community Development Block Grant funds.
Animal Village sets fall ‘Paw-ty’
Dogs will take to the catwalk Saturday as part of the Little Rock Animal Village’s annual fall “Paw-ty” that doubles as an adoption drive and fundraiser.
Along with a pet fashion show and parade, there will be games and contests for pets and their owners, as well as food. Pet owners can get questions answered in the shelter’s education area or have pictures taken of their pets in front of an autumn or Christmas backdrop.
The fall party, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., takes place at Animal Village, 4500 Kramer St. off University Avenue.
Arkansas, Pages 16 on 11/06/2011