LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For people that have been living in the South End of Little Rock, a decades-long call for change on things like sidewalks, proper drainage, and even clean parks— has gone unheard.
This has happened despite their pleas for help.
Residents of the historic South End community have been desperate to see change come their way.
“We're trying to get equal ground, we’re trying to play catch up, because of the fact that we have been left out for so long,” South End Resident, Eleanor Burns-Stevenson, said.
She remembers a bold South End community in the mid-70s to early 90s and described the South End as a once thriving area— she adds that it has since lost some of its vitality.
“This used to be a very vibrant community that had grocery stores, we had shoe shops, we had beauty parlors,” Burns-Stephenson said.
Today, vacant lots, worn-down homes, and shuttered businesses fill the South End.
“This is one of the oldest communities in Little Rock and it's just gone down where the old residents have died out,” Burns-Stephenson said.
She is a part of the South End Neighborhood Group, where they canvass their community, talk to neighbors, and compile their wants and needs into a 10-year action plan for the city of Little Rock.
“A lot of things that we have in the current action plan date back to 1996, we're still asking for some of the same objectives and goals,” Burns-Stephenson explained.
They've been fighting for improvements for almost three decades, but it's been a fight that Eleanor said hasn't seen much help.
“Throughout the years we have been left out of a lot of funds,” Burns-Stephenson said. “We have been omitted, overlooked, and denied.”
Other South End neighbors have also seen little action while asking for change that has proved necessary.
“If we can get our streets fixed and sidewalks, we can look civilized,” South End Resident, Wanda J. Simpson, said.
Valerie Williams has lived in the South End for 60 years and her biggest concerns are issues that she believes are basic needs in a community.
“There's no drainage, nothing accessible for the handicapped people,” Williams said.
Through the concerns, many neighbors say you’ll find the heart of the South End community at Southside Park.
It's a point of pride, where dozens of professional athletes got their start under the guidance of Sunset Tigers retired coach Ed Johnson. He's a south-end icon who's not afraid to point out issues that lie within his team’s home.
“You’ve got to jump over waterhole sometimes just to play on the ground, so you have to pack the dirt in it for a game every Saturday,” Coach Johnson said. “When the parents come down here on Saturday, they say this is just embarrassing and all I can say is "you're right."
Now retired, Johnson has remained one of the most well-known coaches in town, leading the sunset tigers for 50 years. He’s also an inductee into the Arkansas black hall of fame.
In his time with the Tigers, his impact has proven invaluable to the South End.
“Our park has been like a haven for the kids in the evening when they need somewhere to go for two and a half hours. giving the kid something to belong to giving the kid something to be proud of, our pride is in that orange and white,” Johnson explained.
Even so, he said that the Tigers' home has been overlooked for too long.
“We want them to see our neighborhood as our neighborhood not looking at us as a ghetto neighborhood because we're not,” Johnson added.
According to Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr., change is on the horizon for Southside Park.
“The city board and I invested close to $200,000 to redo their lights, we're focusing on the revitalization of that particular park,” Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said.
Though this is a step in the right direction, Mayor Scott recognizes there's a long road ahead.
“The South End community is near and dear to my heart, my mother is from the South End, quite frankly, there's a lot of work to catch up on,” Scott said.
For now, South End neighbors, like Eleanor, have been working to focus on the positive, and not let the past ruin progress.
“A lot of the residents feel like they're not going to do anything now because they never have done anything and that just bothers me because you never stop fighting,” Burns-Stephenson said.
The South End Neighborhood Group’s fight to get new life with their 10-year action plan is now seeing some motion.
“Our action plan has been approved by the Planning Commission, it has been approved by the City Board,” Burns-Stephenson explained. “We are looking to go forward with a lot of those plans.”
Recently approved bond money will allow the city to keep improvements coming.
“As we get more funding dollars from the Renewal Right Bond Package that was passed this past September, and we just recently issued those bonds,” Scott said.
Eleanor is happy to see the South End's biggest concerns addressed, and hopes the city of Little Rock doesn't take its foot off the pedal.
“Don't forget about us, we, we hear you and we want you to hear us, we appreciate you and we want you to appreciate us,” Burns-Stephenson said. “It would mean the world to me, just the idea that we got it on paper.”
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. explained that he understands the work that's needed in these historically forgotten and neglected neighborhoods. He wants people who live in the South End to know the city is doing more work with affordable housing.
It's collaborated with Metro Housing Alliance and the Central Housing Arkansas Corporation to restore Sunset Terrace Apartments to single-family homes.