Having looked "all over the world" at town squares and public plazas for ideas to create one in North Little Rock, Mayor Joe Smith said he's convinced the model to follow is Fort Worth's Sundance Square Plaza.
And he's taking his sales pitch on the road to convince others, too.
Smith made his first public presentation of his vision for a downtown North Little Rock town square or plaza during a special City Council meeting Thursday evening. The mayor then invited anyone interested to join city staff and elected officials for a guided tour of the Fort Worth plaza Aug. 1.
Air travel, hotel and incidental costs, which Smith said will total about $400-$500 per person, cannot be covered by the city, except for staff and elected officials who participate. There is also a $130 bus option that would be less expensive than the airfare. Registration must be completed by noon Monday through the mayor's office.
North Little Rock's site is the long-planned Argenta Plaza on Main Street between Fifth and Sixth streets and just south of the Rock Region Metro Trolley Barn. The vacant property has been penciled in for some type of public gathering site since even before the city acquired the 0.66-acre site in December 2012.
With ideas for private development to border the plaza property -- retail shops, restaurants, a three- to four-story office/commercial building and a mix of single-family and multifamily residences all between Main and Magnolia streets and Fifth Street to Bishop Lindsey Avenue -- Smith said the area will become "an economic development tool" for the city.
"We've been working on a downtown redevelopment, and I like the idea of having a downtown square or plaza," Smith said during the meeting Thursday. "But development around the plaza had to take place first."
What hasn't been nailed down is a cost for either the city's part or the sale price for private developers to buy property the city owns. Ownership of the former mill property, for instance, is shared by the city and private limited liability corporations.
"We're still tweaking the cost about what they would have to pay for the property," Smith said of potential developers.
While Smith said he has taken trips to public plazas in Kansas City, Mo.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and New York City's Bryant Park, and looked online at sites worldwide, the design he's said since last year that he keeps coming back to is Sundance Square Plaza in Fort Worth.
"It would behoove us to take this trip" to Fort Worth, Smith told those who attended Thursday's public meeting.
The mayor led a small group to visit Sundance Square Plaza in April 2015 -- the visit that placed it at the top of his list to emulate, he said not long afterward. But, he said Thursday, a 10-member committee of mostly city staff studied several options before all agreed that Sundance Square Plaza is the best model to follow for North Little Rock.
Sundance Square is a 35-block shopping and entertainment district that draws 10 million people a year, according to a Sundance Square fact sheet. In the heart of that district is Sundance Square Plaza, an outdoor plaza advertised as a "55,000-square-foot living room" and a place "to hang out with friends," according to a description on the website sundancesquare.com/sundance-square-plaza. It includes a stage, jetted fountains and state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems. It also includes a 1,500-square-foot pavilion that can be rented for special events and opens to a patio area to expand for larger groups.
Smith's idea is for North Little Rock's version to be "a mini-Sundance Square, if you will," he said.
"Sundance Square is probably four times as big as what we have and has some very expensive umbrellas that we would never be able to afford," Smith said. "It has a fountain that trickles down a wall. I don't think we could afford that either."
Smith referred to four custom-made square umbrellas in the Sundance plaza that each cover 1,600 square feet and are 34 feet tall, constructed of a telescopic mast. Each illuminates with color-changing light-emitting diodes at night. The four umbrellas cost $2.5 million, according to the website. The 65-foot long "wave wall fountain" on the plaza's northeast side cost $600,000.
The site also includes 216 jetted fountains covering the plaza's surface for an "ever-changing display with plumes of water," the website said. When turned off, the water drains within minutes and the fountain area can be used for other activities on a dry surface.
A mural of the legendary Chisholm Trail cattle drives of the late 19th century is also integrated into Sundance Square Plaza. With the North Little Rock plaza site next to the city's Heritage Center, the home of the North Little Rock History Commission, Smith said he's considering the Heritage Center's north wall for a mural to feature North Little Rock's own heritage.
The tour planned for Aug. 1, he said, is to allow others to see first-hand what he and his staff envision for North Little Rock.
"In a nutshell, we have one chance to do this right, and all of us have to be on the same page," Smith said.
Metro on 07/10/2016