UACDC TO PRESENT DEVELOPMENT STUDY FOR HOT SPRINGS SATURDAY

The University of Arkansas Community Design Center (UACDC) will present recommendations to help control development along a three-mile section of Highway 70 in Hot Springs this Saturday, May 5 at 1 p.m., at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

The recommendations are part of a yearlong study of a section of the highway that extends from the eastern end of Grand Avenue to the planned interchange with Martin Luther King Highway Interchange on the west.

The recommendations will emphasize specific suggestions to unify the corridor. This includes establishing connections within the area and with downtown Hot Springs, improving landscape treatment and highway safety improvements, among other suggestions.

The project was initiated by the City of Hot Springs, Garland County Quorum Court, Fifty for the Future, the Chamber of Commerce, A and P Commission, and other interested parties.

School of Architecture students David A. Belviy of Little Rock, John Bredehoeft of Johnson, Trish Megan Bryant of Fort Smith, Jason Gabbard of Rogers and Andrea Sturgis of Hot Springs worked with Dr. Sevinç Yavuz, professor of architecture and David Evan Glasser, FAIA, director of UACDC on the project.

The first part of the study, completed in December, included a thorough inventory and analysis of the highway.

This is the second UACDC project undertaken in cooperation with the City of Hot Springs and Fifty for the Future. In 1999, the UACDC explored options for a new downtown parking facility. The UACDC studied 18 different sites in downtown Hot Springs to find the best location for a new parking facility. As a result, $5,000,000 in federal funding was allocated to the city to assist the parking project.

The UACDC was established by the School of Architecture in 1995 to assist Arkansas communities without the resources or staff to undertake comprehensive planning or community design studies. The UACDC emphasizes maintaining the quality and character of historic downtown areas, promoting local efforts to discourage sprawl and encouraging preservation of irreplaceable open space.