OPINION

REX NELSON: Well done, mayor

I've rounded the corner from the offices of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette at the intersection of Capitol and Scott in downtown Little Rock. I want to check out what's going on along Main Street.

I peek into the windows of the storefront at Sixth and Main and admire what I'm told will be an upscale barbershop. Imagine that: A barbershop on Main Street, which was desolate for much of the past four decades. It's a sign of continued revitalization; a symbol of progress downtown.

Next door to the barbershop, real estate developer David Robinson shows me the underground parking for the Main Street Lofts. The 37 apartments are fully leased, another good sign for Main Street. Robinson explains that there's room in this basement for a restaurant or bar. A grease trap has even been installed. With more people now living downtown, it would be a prime location for something that resembles a Prohibition-era speakeasy. Such basement establishments are all the rage in larger cities.

Other developments along this block include an expanded space for the Cranford Co. advertising agency. Robinson and I stop in to visit with the Cranford brothers.

"As we've grown over the last four years, it became imperative that we have more room," says Ross Cranford. "We're dedicated to downtown redevelopment and are excited that the perfect new location for us just happened to be practically next door. Our mission has always been to bring Madison Avenue-quality advertising to Main Street."

The agency left that corner space at Sixth and Main for an 8,240-square-foot location three doors down in the former M.M. Cohn building at 512 Main Street. The offices were designed by the renowned Marlon Blackwell architectural firm. There's a 3,329-square-foot room that the brothers use for video production. They tell me that the acoustics are almost perfect and that the space can be rented for special events such as small concerts.

"This is an incredible, versatile space that can be endlessly transformed for different uses as the advertising industry continues to evolve," Jay Cranford says. "Some of the top needs our clients demand are videos for social media."

Jay, Ross and Chris Cranford are the sons of advertising legend Wayne Cranford, one of the founders in 1961 of what's now CJRW, which also has its headquarters on Main Street.

"We talked about advertising and creative arts around the dinner table," Ross Cranford told an interviewer several years ago. "It's what we did for fun."

Robinson and I also visit with Matt McLeod, whose downtown gallery is filled with contemporary art produced by the owner and other professional artists. McLeod, a painter and sculptor, graduated from Southern Methodist University at Dallas in 1987. He then spent 15 years in advertising before becoming a full-time artist. He calls his style "energetic color."

Our next stop is Ballet Arkansas, which has its offices and studios on this block of Main Street. Little Rock native Donald Cater Cranford moved back from Dallas in the 1960s. He and his wife, Lorraine Albert Cranford, had founded the Cranford House of Ballet in 1957. It developed dancers for the Dallas Civic Ballet, which was best known for an annual production of The Nutcracker. D. Cater Cranford founded the Little Rock Civic Ballet in 1966. Lorraine Cranford joined him in Little Rock a few years later.

"When the Arkansas Arts Center began conducting ballet classes and performances in the 1970s, it invited the Little Rock Civic Ballet to participate," Craig Wilson writes for the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. "The two efforts eventually merged. D. Cater Cranford died in 1977. Lorraine Cranford founded Ballet Arkansas in 1978. Cranford remained active in the company under various boards and directors until her death in 2004."

Ballet Arkansas still puts on The Nutcracker each December, and it remains highly popular. In 2016, Ballet Arkansas moved into its new office and studio space. A planned move to Main Street by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra never materialized, but what Mayor Mark Stodola has dubbed the Creative Corridor is becoming a reality.

I walk the street on this cold December day and view the mix that's developing--apartments, restaurants, a craft cocktail bar, a hip coffee shop, the Little Rock Technology Park, advertising agencies and film production companies, art galleries, a church, Ballet Arkansas, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, a barbershop.

The myriad legal troubles of developer Scott Reed, which slowed Main Street development for years, have pretty much been ironed out. The biggest challenges now center on the two tallest structures on the street, the Boyle and Donaghey buildings. For now, they're empty hulks that scar an otherwise happening scene. I do believe that increased demand from those who want to be part of this Main Street mix will lead to apartment development in the two buildings during the next five years.

As I head back to the newsroom, I notice numerous downtown stakeholders walking to the offices of the Little Rock Downtown Partnership. They plan to honor Stodola on this day. I've sometimes criticized the mayor who will leave office at the end of this month after 12 years on the job. But let's state for the record that Stodola is an honorable man who loves the city and achieved a great deal. I believe the Creative Corridor will be viewed in the years ahead as his crowning achievement. Well done, mayor. Well done.

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Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.

Editorial on 12/22/2018

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