LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — How often do you enjoy a day in downtown Little Rock?
A new task force is looking to revitalize the area by tackling quality of life and development to breathe new life back into downtown.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced that Little Rock City Board Member Antwan Phillips will chair the Downtown Density Task Force.
"I want Little Rock to be what it can be. Not what it is,” Phillips said. "If you come down here on the weekend, during the day hours, there's not a lot of activity, not a lot of people... as a capital city in the United States of America, I think we should have that activity at all times."
Phillips said the goal is to make sure that downtown is thriving, whether it's business, recreational growth, grocery stores, or more, there need to be things for people to do, whether it's work, life, or play.
In addition to Phillips, the Downtown Density Task Force members are Gillian Gullet, Clinton School of Public Service; Stephanie Jackson, The Design Group; Hank Kelley, Kelley Commercial Partners; Jimmy Moses, Moses Tucker Partners; Kasey Summerville, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau; Carol Worley, Downtown Little Rock Partnership.
Like many members, Stephanie Jackson is a longtime resident of Little Rock.
“I remember growing up, I would go to the post office with my mom on Capitol Street," Jackson said. "It was in the federal building so we could get coffee... it was just so much life as people passed through and said hello."
Jackson now works downtown, and her office is located on the 18th floor of the formerly named Regions building.
From her office, Jackson witnesses firsthand what she believes is one of the issues.
“We can look at our office windows and see the sea of available parking spaces," Jackson said. "Empty parking spaces."
Jackson said as the city has grown in population, the downtown area hasn't evolved to meet the demands of more people, both visitors and those who live there.
However, one thing has become apparent— dozens of parking lots downtown sit vacant most days.
To some, those lots are hindering growth and development.
"We can repurpose those and bring about more growth and development downtown," Task Force Member Gillan Gullet said.
Gullet is a student at the Clinton School of Public Service, and her capstone project focuses on urban planning.
She's taking a closer look at the underutilized surface parking lots in the city. Gullet found that the supply of parking does not meet the market's demand.
Gullet added that parking codes established over 50 years ago required businesses to provide parking, making it excessive over time.
“As of 2019, almost 20,000 parking spaces," Gullet said. "That's about 82 acres of downtown, just parking spaces alone, not even including the drive-thru areas of parking lots... that's a pretty big chunk of downtown."
The task force, and new study, come after the pandemic drastically changed people's work habits.
Building managers at the Regions Building, Simmons Tower and the Stephen's Building on Center Street have said their buildings are well over 65 occupied by tenants.
The smaller buildings are the ones that are unoccupied today. Their parking lots sit empty because they were once required to have them under city code.
Outside of the pandemic, more people have migrated further west from the central part of the city.
“There are so many different office spaces out west, and there's nothing wrong with that," Jackson said. "We need all of our communities, whether it's west, southwest, east village, now, the central part of our city, we need all of these places thriving."
Members of the task force said now is the time to consider all voices and diverse backgrounds to ensure that life is infused everywhere, especially in the heart of Little Rock.
"We have a huge opportunity that we haven't had in almost 30 years," Gullet said. "It's super important that whatever the plan dictates is implementable and that there's a strategy to do that."
Phillips said years ago that he was part of a group called "Think Big Little Rock."
Several millennials collaborated to create a master plan to reshape the city.
Now, members of that group are in a position to push the city forward, and they have money from the city to support their ideas.
"Our city board has now allocated some money through the American Rescue Plan Act to come up with a master plan for downtown," Phillips said. "We also allocated a million dollars to do some beautification downtown, allocated half a million dollars to develop this master plan on what we want our downtown to look like... Now we have the task force trying to bring it all together."
From the River Market to adding more green spaces and art, members of the task force already have ideas.
Most importantly, task force members want to make sure the decisions have a lasting impact and reflect the community they serve.
The task force is made up of young and old with different investments in the downtown area. Jackson said they all have the same goal in mind, conder all voices and want to leave the best legacy.
“The people who live not too far away from this community who are opening up a floral shop," Jackson said. "Or the people who live down the street deciding they want to open up a sandwich shop, that's what we need in this community is more opportunities for the people who live here to take an active role in the success of this effort."
They hope a new approach, funding and buy-in from the community will help life return to downtown.
“I think of our city as a body, and downtown Little Rock is the heart of the city," Phillips said. "For the body, the city of Little Rock to function, the way we want it to, the way it can, for it to be the city we all think it can be, the heart has to operate and operate well."
The task force is set to meet for the first time on Feb. 21. The meeting will focus on the current state of downtown and future developments.