LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – The 12th street corridor in Little Rock has been known to have problems with crime in the past, but the city wants to start revitalizing the area.
If you drive along 12th street, you will notice boarded up homes and businesses. The city wants to give the area a new name so businesses and families can move in.
"You often hear about the negative because of the crime and the violence. You also don't talk about the positive things being done in the community,” Community Organizer Pamela Bax said.
Mayor Mark Stodola launched a campaign Thursday, March 15, called the “12th Street Jumpstart Overview.” He wants residents to get in on a branding campaign to encourage economic growth.
“I’m glad to see that over time we’ve seen a lot of city investment and the area and it certainly puts a need for continued investment,” Stodola said.
He said the 12th street area received a $200,000 Jump Start Grant in 2014. The city was able to add new buildings with the grant.
"You have the police station. You have the residents. You have better community development building homes,” Stodola said.
Part of the revitalization process would be to update the now vacant Lee Theatre so that kids in this neighborhood have a place to go after school. The theatre would allow kids to practice performing arts.
Ken Richardson of Ward 2 said he wants to improve the infrastructure and address the high unemployment rate.
"I did a lot of work in this area on gang intervention work. And one of things I noticed on doing that work was that gangs were strongest where sense of community was weakest,” Richardson said.
He said he wants new local businesses to move in so people can easily access jobs.
“[I want to] engage young people, disconnected youth and adults to provide them with skills to be employable,” Richardson said.
Residents can submit their neighborhood name ideas to JumpStart12thStreet@littlerock.gov.