HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-20 nichols letter1
Minyard, Brian
From:Cheri Nichols <cgnichols79@comcast.net>
Sent:Wednesday, May 20, 2020 11:03 AM
To:LRzoning; Mayor; Christina Aleman; Lindsey Boerner; Lauren Frederick; Robert Hodge;
Ted Holder; Amber Carter Jones; Jeremiah Russell; Collins, Jackie; Minyard, Brian
Cc:Latimer, Sherri; Malone, Walter; Capi Peck
Subject:I oppose HDC2019-023
The Honorable Frank Scott, Mayor of Little Rock Little Rock Historic District Commissioners Jamie Collins, Director, Little
Rock Department of Planning and Development Brian Minyard, Urban Designer, Little Rock Department of Planning and
Development
RE: HDC2019-023
Dear Mayor Scott, Commissioners, Mr. Collins, and Mr. Minyard:
I am writing to reiterate my opposition -- previously expressed in an email of December 18, 2019 -- to the proposed infill
project at 10th and Rock Streets in the MacArthur Park Historic District. Although revisions have been made since
December, the proposed development remains out of scale with the area around it. It still is too tall and too wide and
contains too many dwelling units in too little space. (As an aside, I hope all HD Commissioners have made a point of
visiting the proposed project site because the submittals for the project rather misleadingly include only photos of the
largest and least architecturally important buildings adjacent to the site, entirely omitting the several charming one-
story historic houses that stand directly across both Rock and 10th
Streets.)
As a professional historic preservationist who has been involved in issues in the historic district since shortly after it was
created in 1981, I am disturbed by what seems to be a trend toward shoehorning large multi-family developments into
Little Rock's oldest surviving neighborhood. These developments epitomize exactly what the historic district was
created to prevent: major intrusions into the historic fabric that undermine the district's distinctiveness and lead to the
irreplaceable loss of the district's aesthetic, cultural, and historic values.
Previous large-scale projects constructed in the 500 block of Rock Street and 900 block of Scott Street at least were at
the margins of the historic district. The proposed project site at 10th and Rock, however, is in the heart of the district,
surrounded by well-maintained one- and two-story historic homes, including the especially important Kadel Cottages at
407 and 417 East 10th Street, both built before the Civil War. (They are two of just a handful of houses in Little Rock
that survive from the antebellum period.) The corner of 10th and Rock Streets most certainly is not an appropriate place
to build fifteen units on just three lots.
(An exception to the one- and two-story scale, of course, is the mid-20th century Park Place apartment building which
backs up to the proposed project site. But it is just that: an exception, not the rule. Consequently, it is not the model
that should be followed.)
It does appear that the revised project design makes an effort to incorporate Craftsman and Mission-style
elements. The Craftsman style (but not the Mission style) is found in the historic district, especially in the design of
early-20th century fourplexes. If the proposed development also adhered to the scale of those early-20th century
apartment buildings, a Craftsman-influenced design could be appropriate.
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As it is, with the scale of the proposed project so thoroughly incompatible with the surrounding area, I urge the Little
Rock Historic District Commission not to approve the project and to make clear that large multi-family developments are
not the future of the MacArthur Park Historic District.
Sincerely,
Cheri Nichols
315 Rock Street, #1303
Little Rock, Arkansas 72202