What a difference a day makes in NLR

Park Hill to spend Saturday envisioning a better-connected neighborhood

Divided by traffic-busy John F. Kennedy Boulevard, North Little Rock's historic Park Hill neighborhood has long yearned to support more retail businesses; add some upscale restaurants; and provide safer passage for patrons, especially those wanting to cross JFK's four lanes.

Pop Up in the Rock-Park Hill, a community volunteer event set for Saturday between A and E avenues on both sides of JFK/Arkansas 107, will work to show what a more connected, walkable Park Hill would look like. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Park Hill event is part of Pop Up in the Rock, a Little Rock-based community development organization that chooses a small area of the community to be transformed for a day into a vibrant community. It's a way to showcase the area's potential.

Food trucks, live music, a beer garden, a dog park and several family friendly activities are planned. A schedule and events map can be found on the Pop Up in the Rock webpage at Facebook.com/PopUpInTheRock. Central Arkansas Transit will offer free shuttle buses between the River Cities Travel Center in Little Rock and the Pop Up event.

Pop Up in the Rock, in its third year, is sponsored by studioMain and Create Little Rock, a branch of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.

After previous events seeking to transform Little Rock's Seventh and South Main streets, this is the first such event in North Little Rock. Local support has come from the Park Hill Business and Merchants Association, the Historic Park Hill Neighborhood Association, and city government, among others.

"Honestly, one of the reasons we chose Park Hill for this year's event was because there was such an outcry of a need and so much potential there," said Bethany Berry, the event's co-chairman. "Everyone was kind of raising their hand with the hope of us popping up in Park Hill."

How to better connect the two sides of Park Hill, divided by JFK, is something those who live, work and own businesses in the area have wrestled with for many years.

"One of the focal points for the event is increasing walkability, so we'll have some temporary crosswalks set up to show if these crosswalks were here, it would connect these two sides of Park Hill a little better," said DeAnn Hubberd, president of the Historic Park Hill Neighborhood Association.

Organizers have worked with the state Highway and Transportation Department, Berry said, in setting up the event along both sides and adding the temporary crosswalks for the day. JFK, just off the Interstate 40/30 interchange, will remain open to vehicular traffic Saturday.

"They [highway officials] understand that our goal is to make that area safer, not only for pedestrians but also for vehicles," Berry said.

"They know that with the attention we are trying to give it, those goals can be met.

"With JFK coming off of I-40, it can be very easy for people to fly right by Park Hill," Berry said. "We're trying to slow them down a little bit and create more visual interest in the area, and make it safer for people to walk around and to be able to cross JFK safely, especially for Park Hill residents."

It's hoped that two other factors from late last year will help with Park Hill's revitalization.

In November, voters in Park Hill and parts of Lakewood and Indian Hills neighborhoods approved overturning a ban on alcohol sales that had been in place since the 1960s. Supporters said during the campaign that allowing alcohol sales would help entice restaurants to locate in Park Hill.

In December, Park Hill was one of five central Arkansas communities -- North Little Rock's Levy neighborhood was another -- to be awarded a Jump Start grant for up to $200,000 each in federal planning assistance funds. Jump Start is part of Imagine Arkansas, coordinated by Metroplan, central Arkansas' long-range transportation planning agency.

Though Jump Start is a separate initiative, Hubberd said Pop Up in the Rock-Park Hill "does kind of dovetail" with that effort.

"We're really excited to have [Pop Up] this year because it will be a great visual for what we hope to accomplish through the Jump Start program," Hubberd said.

Having Pop Up to go along with the Jump Start grant is an advantage for Park Hill, Berry agreed, but the actual implementation of permanent changes after the event is over "will be solely the responsibility of those who operate in and live in Park Hill."

"We're just trying to show what can be there," Berry said. "What comes after Pop Up? Who knows? The sky's the limit.

"What we hope to accomplish is that more businesses will return to that area," she added. "Maybe make things more walkable for the community in a permanent way. And that we draw more Park Hill residents across JFK and bridge that gap that seems to divide Park Hill."

Metro on 09/08/2014

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