Little Rock: Convention Facilities

With the development of Statehouse Plaza and its complex of meeting facilities and hotels, Little Rock has made a special effort to attract convention business. Situated along the Arkansas River, Statehouse Plaza is an eight-square-block area in downtown Little Rock that includes the Statehouse Convention Center and University Conference Center, Robinson Center, and several major hotels, including the Peabody, Capital, and Double Tree.

The Statehouse Convention Center features the Governor's Exhibition Hall, which has nearly 83,000 square feet of space that can be divided into four rooms or left as one large room. The Wally Allen Ballroom was created in a 1999 expansion that added more than 18,000 square feet of space. Other rooms are available for a variety of events. Atop the Center is the Peabody Little Rock Hotel, product of a $40 million reconstruction of the former Excelsior Hotel that was completed in January 2002. The Peabody has approximately 40,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, with an additional 19,000 square feet in the Peabody Conference Center.

Adjacent to the Statehouse Convention Center is the University Conference Center, which has 50,000 square feet of space, more than 13,000 square feet of which is designed specifically for meetings. Of additional interest are satellite down-links that allow for regional, national, or international teleconferences.

Down the street from these two facilities is the Robinson Center, which has a 14,867-square-foot exhibition hall that can hold 800 people in the main room, with additional exhibition space and seating in other exhibition and meeting rooms. Adjacent to this complex is the Doubletree Hotel, which emerged from a 1996 renovation of the former Camelot Hotel with 287 rooms and 13 suites.

Additional meeting rooms in the Statehouse Plaza area are available at the Arkansas Bar Center and the Old State House. Other area hotels and motels also provide meeting facilities for smaller groups.

Convention Information: Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau, Markham and Broadway, PO Box 3232, Little Rock, AR 72203; telephone (501)376-4781; toll-free 1-800-844-4781

Little Rock: Population Profile

Metropolitan Area Residents

1980: 474,484

1990: 513,026

2000: 583,845

Percent change, 1990–2000: 13.8%

U.S. rank in 1990: 71st

U.S. rank in 2000: 73rd

City Residents

1980: 158,915

1990: 175,727

2000: 183,133

2003 estimate: 184,053

Percent change, 1990–2000: 4.2%

U.S. rank in 1990: 96th (State rank: 1st)

U.S. rank in 2000: 128th (State rank: 1st)

Density: 1,576 people per square mile (2000)

Racial and ethnic characteristics (2000)

White: 100,848

Black or African American: 74,003

American Indian and Alaska Native: 500

Asian: 3,032

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 64

Hispanic or Latino (may be of any race): 4,889

Other: 2,348

Percent of residents born in state: 68% (2000)

Age characteristics (2000)

Population under 5 years old: 12,989

Population 5 to 9 years old: 12,599

Population 10 to 14 years old: 12,254

Population 15 to 19 years old: 12,093

Population 20 to 24 years old: 13,560

Population 25 to 34 years old: 29,463

Population 35 to 44 years old: 28,547

Population 45 to 54 years old: 25,852

Population 55 to 59 years old: 8,180

Population 60 to 64 years old: 6,269

Population 65 to 74 years old: 10,484

Population 75 to 84 years old: 7,891

Population 85 years and older: 2,952

Median age: 34.5 years

Births (Pulaski County, 2001)

Total number: 8,345

Deaths (Pulaski County, 2001)

Total number: 3,331 (of which, 62 were infants under the age of one year)

Money income (1999)

Per capita income: $23,209

Median household income: $37,572

Total households: 84,793

Number of households with income of . . .

less than $10,000: 8,416

$10,000 to $14,999: 5,267

$15,000 to $24,999: 11,626

$25,000 to $34,999: 10,820

$35,000 to $49,999: 12,567

$50,000 to $74,999: 13,184

$75,000 to $99,999: 6,683

$100,000 to $149,999: 4,992

$150,000 to $199,999: 1,721

$200,000 or more: 2,245

Percent of families below poverty level: 11.1% (48.3% of which were female householder families with related children under 5 years)

2002 FBI Crime Index Total: 20,680

Little Rock: Transportation

Approaching the City

The Little Rock National Airport is located within the city limits and is only three miles from downtown, thus making it one of the most convenient urban airports in the country. It is served by American Eagle, Comair, Continental Express, Delta, Delta Connection, Northwest, Northwest Airlink, Southwest, and US Airways Express. The airport handles about 2.1 million passengers each year and has facilities for private planes and corporate aircraft. Each day more than 120 flights arrive or depart, among them regional jets to and from Cincinnati, a service it launched in 1997. A parking deck was added in 2001, and a $3 million renovation of the baggage claim wing went underway in 2003.

For those approaching the city by car, access is made easy by the network of U.S. and state highways that intersect the metropolitan area. Additionally, five Interstate highways—30, 40, 430, 440, and 630—facilitate Little Rock travelers.

Amtrak provides daily passenger service from Little Rock's restored Union Station to Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio; connections to El Paso, Tucson, and Los Angeles are available three times a week. The city is also served by Greyhound buses.

Traveling in the City

Little Rock is laid out in a basic grid pattern with streets numbered consecutively from the river to the edge of town. Two major expressways, I-630 and I-30, bisect the city; freeway traffic is usually heavy. Bus service is provided by the municipally owned and operated Central Arkansas Transit (CAT).

Reborn after 57 years, Little Rock's streetcars began rolling again in November 2004. The River Rail Electric Streetcar system runs along a 2.5-mile track that links the major attractions between Little Rock and North Little Rock. Destinations include the ALLTEL Arena, the Statehouse Convention Center, River Market, Discovery Museum, and the Robinson Auditorium Concert Hall.

LITTLE ROCK

LITTLE ROCK is on the Arkansas River some 150 miles above its confluence with the Mississippi River. The place name was identified in 1721 by the French explorer Benard LaHarpe with his journal entry noting a "point of rocks" on the south bank of the river. Little Rock, a derivative of that name, was established in 1821. Decisions by the territorial legislature to designate the city as the seat of government and in 1836 the state capital secured the city's future.

The Civil War left the city unscathed, and in the last quarter of the nineteenth century investments in railroads and natural resources led to steady economic growth. This pattern, coupled with a growing presence of state and federal agencies, continued in the twentieth century. Employment opportunities stimulated by World War II accelerated a population boom that continued a full decade following the war. Growth was curtailed by the Little Rock school crisis in 1957. The city became an international symbol for racial prejudice when some of its citizens supported the governor's attempts to stop integration at the city's Central High School. Major reform efforts to improve the city's image and national demo-graphic changes fueled by interests in recreation, retirement, and an energy crisis allowed the city to regain its momentum. Governor Bill Clinton's election as president brought added attention to the city. By the year 2000 Little Rock's population exceeded 180,000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Herndon, Dallas Tabor. Why Little Rock Was Born. Little Rock, Ark.: Central Printing, 1933.

Lester, Jim, and Judy Lester. Greater Little Rock. Norfolk, Va.: Donning, 1986.

Roy, F. Hampton, Sr., and Charles Witsell Jr. How We Lived: Little Rock as an American City. Little Rock, Ark.: August House Publishers, 1984.

C. FredWilliams

See alsoArkansas ; Segregation .

Little Rock: Municipal Government

Little Rock operates under a city manager/board of directors form of government. An 11-member board of directors—elected on a non-partisan basis for staggered four-year terms—employs the manager to supervise the daily operations of the city. In 1995 Little Rock installed its first elected mayor, who also serves on the board of directors. The following year Little Rock decentralized many of its city services in an effort to make them more responsive to residents' needs. A newly formed ward system placed planning and development responsibilities in the hands of neighborhood organizations.

The city appointed its first African American police chief in 2000. Chief Lawrence Johnson had a difficult tenure, however. According to The New York Times, the Fraternal Order of Police accused Johnson of being unresponsive to the needs of officers and of showing favoritism toward African American officers. He, in turn, criticized city leaders for a lack of support for the department and the community. On January 1, 2005, Johnson stepped down from his position, stating that his decision was part of his plan to retire after five years and not an outcome of his frustration with officials.

Head Officials: Mayor Jim Dailey (NP) (since 1995) and City Manager Bruce Moore

Total Number of City Employees: 2,058 (2003)

City Information: Little Rock City Hall, 500 West Markham, Little Rock, AR 72201; telephone (501)371-4510; email slangley@littlerock.state.ar.us