I couldn't wait to move to this state's largest city after finishing college in 1981. A job in the sports department of the Arkansas Democrat awaited, and I found a furnished apartment on Rebsamen Park Road. The Buffalo Grill and Faded Rose would soon open, providing me two good choices for lunch that were within walking distance of my apartment. I went to work in the middle of the afternoon and left the newsroom after 11 p.m., often stopping for a late supper at the Steak & Egg Kitchen at the bottom of Cantrell Hill.
Having grown up and attended college in a town of 10,000 people, Little Rock was my big city. There was a mystique to the place and the business leaders whose names I knew from having been an avid Arkansas Gazette reader since childhood. I looked forward to covering golf and tennis tournaments at the Country Club of Little Rock. I would drive around the Heights and stare at the expensive homes, especially if it were spring and the azaleas and dogwoods were blooming.
In 1986, the Democrat sent me to Washington, D.C., where I worked for almost four years before returning to Little Rock in late 1989 with a new wife who knew nothing about Arkansas. I began a short stint as a political consultant, and my wife got a job on Jack Stephens' staff at Stephens Inc. She worked just down the hall from the chairman's office on the third floor of what was then the company headquarters on East Capitol. Jack's older brother, Witt, had his office one floor below. I had the privilege of being around Jack Stephens on a regular basis in the months that followed. I learned about leadership. My wife, meanwhile, learned a great deal about how Arkansas worked in those days.
I thought about all that last week when news came that the Arkansas Repertory Theatre on Main Street had suspended operations. Commonly known as The Rep, the professional theater company became a mainstay of the capital city's cultural scene after being founded by Cliff Baker in 1976. The Rep thrived in the former Hunter Memorial Methodist Church at East 11th and McAlmont Street. As its reputation grew, it was able to raise the funds needed to renovate the Galloway Building at 601 Main St. Renovation work was completed in 1988, and the Rep remained an anchor during what otherwise was a dark period for Main Street.
It appears as if Little Rock, which has had stagnant job growth for at least a decade, can no longer support a professional theater company. And that leads to questions. Do young people across the state still look forward to moving to Little Rock just as I did in 1981? Who exactly are the leaders in the business community these days? There was a time when you could point to giants such as Jack and Witt Stephens and have confidence that they would find solutions when a crisis occurred. Without doubt, the potential death of The Rep is a crisis. That's because we live in an era when perception becomes reality, and last week's announcement fuels the perception on the part of many across the state that Little Rock is a city in decline.
Little Rock has put a lot of pieces in place in an effort to make downtown an attractive neighborhood to live and work. But there are key elements missing, and losing The Rep would be another huge blow. Downtown boosters (and I consider myself one of those) too often ignore the fact that many Little Rock residents, along with those who live in surrounding towns, remain wary of parking downtown and then walking a couple of blocks to an evening event. The decaying Boyle Building at the high-profile intersection of Capitol and Main adds to the perception that Main Street isn't quite ready for prime time.
I wonder sometimes if this idea of Main Street as the Creative Corridor is a real initiative or yet another public relations stunt. If it's a real initiative, several things will happen in the months ahead. First, the city's business and civic leaders will find a way to reopen The Rep, even if in an altered form. I've been told by numerous people that the theater's producing artistic director, John Miller-Stephany, never really connected with Arkansas audiences. "Esoteric" is one of the kinder adjectives I've heard. Miller-Stephany will step down next week.
The next thing that must happen is for the Little Rock Police Department to increase foot, bicycle and mounted patrols downtown in order to change perceptions and ensure that visitors feel safe. One of the biggest mistakes in the history of Little Rock city government was allowing dozens of police vacancies to go unfilled. That fiasco is now being corrected, and downtown should see its share of additional officers.
Business owners also need to step up and donate funds so the Little Rock Downtown Partnership's ambassadors program can be expanded. The partnership has two employees who walk downtown streets, take note of maintenance needs, escort people to their cars and provide information to tourists. There need to be at least 10 of these ambassadors. Finally, the city's leadership should work with the current owners of the Boyle Building to make something happen with the structure that's now the poster child for those who view Little Rock as a city in decline.
Who are the leaders? I could answer that question when I moved to Little Rock in 1981. I'm not sure I can today. Talk is cheap. We've had enough of that. Are the current leaders prepared to make things happen? We're about to find out.
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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 05/02/2018