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Plans for War Memorial Park


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Ok let's move the zoo. First off where's the money coming from? Perhaps the coming federal stimulus? Short of that I can't imagine how you could fund such a project in these economic times.

You think the UCA campus is "superior and safer". Let's look at safer. October, 2008 two UCA students murdered and one wounded on campus. The shooters didn't know the victims. February, 2008 a UALR student shot, his wound not life threatening, by shooters who specifically targeted him.

UCA and UALR serve different constituencies. UALR is an urban school with primarily a commuter student body. UCA, the states first teachers (ASTC) college, grew into a large institution through a slick TV advertising campaign, a catchy slogan (The Center of Learning) and the leadership of a president who put his face on most all the advertising which led many to think he was running for governor. UCA's growth was also driven by giving 40% of entering freshmen scholarships and funding these by tapping sources not intended for that purpose. To float the boat an illegal line of credit was established. In the end the school had to be bailed out by the state.

Of course Bob Johnson's musings were just so much baloney.

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I know somebody who went to UALR.

Why do you feel the need to bash UCA because of what one person said on a message board? Both are good schools and like you said, serve different constituencies. You may also notice that all of the state schools (except for maybe UA) now have slick marketing campaigns after the successful UCA campaign including UALR.

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Nice that you know somebody who went to UALR.

Recounting the truth isn't bashing. And nowhere did I criticize the quality of a UCA education.

The ruinous use of education funds to advertise and promote the various colleges was started by UCA. The legislature should have stepped in and stopped the wasteful competition among the various schools.

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That somebody would be you.

You sound upset that UCA has overtaken UALR in size and stature.

While the shootings are fact that hardly was the point I believe he was making. UALR is in a much worse area than UCA but I think you knew that was his point.

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I can say the exact opposite. As a recent grad school graduate I never encountered anyone who felt UALR was better than UCA and that includes UALR students. I think we will just have to disagree. It is a matter of opinion. When it all shakes out it is for runner up anyway. This thread has gotten off topic but I would be more than happy to continue it in the coffee shop if anyone cares to open a thread.

Back on topic, I think we can agree that Bob Johnson sounds clueless about any possible combination of the two universities.

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I can say the exact opposite. As a recent grad school graduate I never encountered anyone who felt UALR was better than UCA and that includes UALR students. I think we will just have to disagree. It is a matter of opinion. When it all shakes out it is for runner up anyway. This thread has gotten off topic but I would be more than happy to continue it in the coffee shop if anyone cares to open a thread.

Back on topic, I think we can agree that Bob Johnson sounds clueless about any possible combination of the two universities.

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You've never "encountered anyone who felt UALR was better than UCA and that includes UALR students". What a fatuous statement that is. How many of these examples do you have, dozens? a few? maybe one? Actually you have only anecdotal evidence from an extremely small sample.
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I only mentioned that in response to someone else saying basically the same thing to illustrate it is opinion and one can find differing opinions on anything. Do you think his statement was also fatuous? I freely admit that it is from a relatively small sample size but that is all of the firsthand opinion I have to go on.

edit: I know I said it before but I mean it this time. :) We will get kicked off the thread if we do not return to topic so you can have the last word or open a coffee shop thread if you would like to discuss further.

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Last I heard, there are plans to extend the park to 12th street and build a police substation nearby. This is an excellent idea, because it addresses the true problem with the park and that's the area in which it's located. Nothing should be done to the park without giving consideration to how it will benefit those who live around it and, hopefully, raise surrounding property values.

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The park already connects to 12st Street via Jonesboro over by Ray Winder.

Bob Johnson is from Bigelow, a tiny town in Perry Co just west of Pulaski Co. He was blocked from spending a huge amount of money on roads in his town of 200 last year and it kind of irked me he was pushing that.

First of all, I am a big supporter of the zoo as I have a preschool-age kid. There are limited things to do in LR for families and the zoo is a great year-round option. It's not a zoo for LR but a zoo for the state and kids travel on field trips from a significant radius equating to 2/3 of the state's population. Closing it should simply not be an option. I think it's a terrible and expensive idea to move it and I think the original stone WPA structures are historic and add a unique feel to the zoo. It needs a lot, including more land and better financing. I think the county and state kicking in some money would be terrific but private donors don't support this zoo the way ones in other cities are usually supported, there's no pride in it anymore.

I think UALR is safe except for the South side. I'll stay out of the UCA vs UALR argument but you can't combine them.

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  • 1 month later...

Heard on the radio this morning the Ray Winder sale is now back to the drawing board because somebody at UAMS told some people what they were going to offer the state. The guy reading the news said though that we shouldn't expect anything other than UAMS getting it and turning it into a parking lot from what he heard.

I think UAMS should expand south if they already own land that direction.

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Heard on the radio this morning the Ray Winder sale is now back to the drawing board because somebody at UAMS told some people what they were going to offer the state. The guy reading the news said though that we shouldn't expect anything other than UAMS getting it and turning it into a parking lot from what he heard.

I think UAMS should expand south if they already own land that direction.

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  • 1 year later...

skirby - your captions imply that the view "without the press box" is the facade receiving the new press box. That's not the case. The east entrance in your picture - which is a beautiful example of an art deco facade - has been recently renovated and will remain as is. The new press box is replacing the existing on the west side...you can see the crane in the background.

My editorial on the facade rendering: I appreciate the design intent to infer art deco details. However, while I'll hold on any final judgement until seeing the final product, the rendering underwhelms me...too much going on. I'd like to see the rendering from the field of the glass skyboxes, pressrooms, etc.

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