The Museum of Discovery is looking at new uses for a parking lot that soon won't be accessible to cars because of the closure of an alleyway adjacent to the museum.
By the end of the year vehicular traffic won't be allowed in the alley, which runs parallel to President Clinton Avenue in downtown Little Rock.
The alley access change means the lot adjacent to the Museum of Discovery building can no longer be used by museum staff members as a parking lot. The museum will now have to rent 20 to 25 spaces in the River Market Parking Deck for employees at a cost of about $20,000 a year, museum Director Kelley Bass said.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Inc. owns the lot next to the museum building and has an agreement with the museum for its use. The museum pays for 29 parking deck spaces at a yearly cost of $24,600 for the company to use at its discretion, and in exchange the museum gets unrestricted use of the lot.
Bass said the original plan was to use the space for outdoor exhibits, but at some point it became a parking lot.
"I'll talk to staff today about what plans will be to use that space. It's a lot to think about, because obviously there's not controlled access. I don't know if we'll gate it to be a part of the paid museum experience, or put something out there for the general public to use, or partner with the city and use it as parkland. It's all preliminary right now," Bass said.
The city is the museum's largest supporter, he said. Little Rock donates $200,000 annually to the museum.
Assistant City Manager James Jones said the alleyway that is being closed -- which is not a city street -- had always been intended for use as a pedestrian walkway, but nothing had ever stopped vehicles from accessing it. Converting it to be used only by pedestrians will make it safer, he said.
"When it was paved, it was part of more of the pedestrian trail to take you from the River Market to the Clinton Presidential Center. Over the years it has evolved into basically a parking lot and a drive-thru," Jones said. "It was never built to be a road, and we are seeing more and more people going back there and driving through there at speeds greater than they obviously need to be."
The alleyway runs from behind Sonny Williams' Steak Room east to just past the Interstate 30 bridge, where it connects back to President Clinton Avenue. Businesses that use the alley for deliveries will still be able to do so from 7 to 10 a.m. once the change goes into effect, Jones said.
The plan is to close the alley beginning Dec. 1. There already are two gates in place that would allow that, but the city ordered a third gate to be put in near the steak restaurant and is waiting for it to be delivered. The gates will still allow bicycles, pedestrians and golf carts to pass through.
Metro on 08/27/2015