The three residential sites under consideration for the Little Rock Technology Park will be “taken off the table,” according to a letter from Mary Good, the chairman of the Technology Park Authority board.
The letter, sent Thursday afternoon to the Little Rock Board of Directors and the mayor, explains changes to the site-selection process that constitute an about-face from previous comments by authority board members.
The authority board had voted Wednesday to move forward with its site-selection plan, largely ignoring parts of a city ordinance passed Tuesday that asked the authority board to spend six months looking for alternative locations thatcould be “obtained without the objection of residents.”
Good said at Wednesday’s meeting that she felt the authority had already promised to accept alternative site suggestions after it had chosen the best among the three locations studied.
“I, and several other directors I have spoken to today, considered their actions [Wednesday] to be a slap in the face to the board of directors,” at-large City Director Joan Adcock said Thursday at a Forest Hills Neighborhood Association meeting.
“I was disappointed that was a misunderstanding of the authority board after the [city] board voted Tuesday to give them clear direction. I’m glad Dr. Good clarified their intentions in her letter andthat they’re going to look elsewhere.”
The technology park is a partnership among the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences, Little Rock and the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce. Arkansas Children’s Hospital will be a research partner but not a financial partner.
The park is expected to encompass about 35 acres featuring 10 multistory buildings to house incubator companies interested in developing research started at UALR, UAMS and Arkansas Children’s.
The first phase of the project is expected to cost more than $54 million, most of which will likely come from private or federal sources.
The residential sites being studied are:
60 acres bounded by South University Avenue on the west, Taylor Street on the east, Coleman Creek on the south to West 19th Street on the north.
39 acres bounded by Tyler Street on the west, Jackson Street on the east, West 18th Street on the south to West 13th Street on the north.
40 acres bounded by Jonesboro Drive on the west, Peyton Street on the east, Interstate 630 on the north and West 11th Street on the south.
In the letter Thursday, Good wrote that the authority board intends to finish the study of the three locations and narrow them down to one site.
City Manager Bruce Moore encouraged resident input Thursday.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 06/22/2012