HomeMy WebLinkAboutHDC1995-007 Letter To Anne Guthrie From Richard Butler, Jr. 03/25/1996RICHARD C. BUTLER, JR.
417 EAST 10TH STREET
POST OFFICE BOX 624
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72203
501 375-4302
25 March 1996
Ms. Anne Guthrie Preble
Historic Preservation Officer
Department of Neighborhoods and Planning
723 West Markham
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
Re: Curran Hall, 615 East Capitol Avenue, Little Rock
Theft of the historic brick walk by the City of Little Rock
Department of Parks and Recreation
Dear Anne Guthrie:
I have been a concerned resident of the MacArthur Park Historic District since it
was formed. In fact, I helped draft the Historic District Ordinance creating the City of
Little Rock Historic District Commission, hoping the effort would help protect historic
fabric from being demolished or removed.
About a year ago, during my daily trip to the new Post Office and across the street
to police the litter which accumulated daily around the front steps and terrace of the
Walters -Curran -Bell House (commonly known as Curran Hall), 615 East Capitol Avenue,
I noticed that the historic brick walk in front was being stolen. I confronted the thief
with the idea of calling the police. He told me he was doing it at the direction of an
employee of the Department of Parks and Recreation. So I went to City Hall and threw
a fit in Mark Webre's office. He showed me a master plan for the "improvement" of
Capitol Avenue with a new design drawn up by the UALR Donaghey Project for Urban
Studies and told me that they wanted those bricks to lay a "new" walk around the
Arsenal Building in MacArthur Park. I was so outraged by the arrogance of a city agency
apparently ignoring the boundaries of the Historic District that I ran up to the City
Attorney's office to report it. Anthony Black, an assistant city attorney, listened to my
argument that the City had no right to remove bricks that residents built their sidewalks
with because the city's easement controlling the use under sidewalks and between
sidewalks and the street did not include ownership of the materials. He told me that
not only would he order them to stop taking the bricks, he would tell them they had
to put them all back; and that the brick walk was a marketable feature which should be
kept intact in the event of Curran Hall's sale to anyone who would agree to restore it
using historic preservation principles.
Shortly thereafter, I saw another city employee begin the process of putting the
bricks back and I tried to follow the progress each day. Many of the bricks were broken
by this process and, as a result, he could only replace about two-thirds of them. Nothing
happened for several months. So I wrote Mark to thank him for allowing two-thirds
of the walk to be replaced and to ask him when they were going to finish the other
third. Then suddenly, the bricks were ALL removed and stacked up on wooden decks
where they stayed for several more months before they all disappeared. I could not
find out where they had been taken for storage and considered a complaint based on
the Freedom of Information Act to find out. After reading the FOIA, I determined
(disappointedly) that I was not an eligible litigant. Later, at a meeting of the Historic
District Commission to determine the fate of Kramer School I testified that I was
frustrated by the powerlessness of the Commission and I used the Curran Hall brick
walk episode as an example.
Since then, Kathy Garrison (bless her heart) apparently has convinced Bill Bunten
to agree to put the walk back because it is the right thing to do. And the City Board has
instructed the City Attorney's office to begin procedures to acquire Curran Hall for the
City. (Barry Travis has contemplated a wonderful idea of having the Convention and
Visitors Bureau restore it to become a reception center for the City similar to its sister,
the Greek revival Trapnall Hall, which has become a reception center for the State.)
I have compiled a list of several dozen people who have agreed to be "Friends
of Curran Hall." My request of you is to support our efforts to have the walk replaced
and restored in an edged herringbone pattern like the original.
Meanwhile, the missing walk has left a hazardous, unsightly and uneven hole
created by a city agency's blatant robbery. It appears to have been selective thievery
directed against the Tate family because the Parks & Recreation thieves stopped
arbitrarily at the boundary with the Bossinger property, leaving intact the rest of the
walk to the west. To give you an idea of the historic importance of Curran Hall, I am
attaching to this letter a copy of the legend handlettered by Averell Reynolds Tate
herself on the front yard sign which weathered and was vandalized so much that it
became illegible before it was stolen. Mrs. Tate, who lived in the house for eighty years
until recently and has the best memory of its use, has agreed to offer her services as a
consultant to anyone who is interested in restoring the property.
Sincerely yours,
i. 4
Richard C. Butler, Jr.
MPHD Resident
c: Averell R. Tate