Little Rock is taking a new step toward reconnecting one of its most historically significant Black business corridors through a month-long demonstration project called Beyond the Divide: Reconnecting West Ninth Street to the Hearts of Little Rock.
The initiative focuses on the stretch of West Ninth Street between Broadway and State streets, an area that once stood as a thriving center of Black economic and cultural life in the city.
For decades, West Ninth Street was home to more than 100 Black-owned businesses. Retail shops, cafes, offices, and churches filled the corridor as residents gathered for commerce, entertainment, and community life. At night, jazz and blues spilled from doorways, while churches welcomed congregations on Sundays.
The corridor also played a significant role in the cultural landscape of the South. Taborian Hall hosted social events, boxing matches, dances, and basketball games, and served as a stop on the Chitlin’ Circuit. Legendary entertainers, including Cab Calloway, Etta James, Red Foxx, Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, Sam Cooke, and Ray Charles, performed along West Ninth Street during its peak years.
That momentum eventually faded after urban renewal and the construction of Interstate 630, which cut through the community, disrupted economic activity created by Black residents, and reshaped the surrounding neighborhoods.
Now, city leaders and community partners are working to imagine what the corridor could become again.
The demonstration project is led by Ernest Banks, an architectural designer at Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, in partnership with nonprofit studioMAIN. Banks is joined by Chloe Chapman, executive director of Our Little Rock, and Little Rock At Large City Director Antwan Phillips as part of the project’s leadership team.
The initiative is supported by a $25,000 grant from Smart Growth America through its Community Connectors program, along with $20,000 in technical assistance. Little Rock is one of only three communities nationwide selected for the program, alongside Akron, Ohio, and Baltimore County, Maryland.
The program provides funding to help communities address the long-term impacts of divisive infrastructure projects. In Little Rock’s case, that includes Interstate 630 and its lasting impact on the West Ninth Street corridor.
Banks said the project began as an idea about six months ago after the grant was awarded.
Initially, organizers envisioned smaller-scale improvements such as narrowing the roadway and introducing public art inspired by the history of West Ninth Street. Conversations with partners, including Philander Smith University, prompted the team to think more deeply about the effort's long-term impact.
“They really lit a fire under us,” Banks said, recalling feedback that challenged organizers to think beyond beautification and consider what meaningful change for the Black community could look like.
The team returned to the drawing board and began developing a broader vision that focuses on rebuilding economic activity and community presence along the corridor.
The demonstration will give residents and visitors a glimpse of what a revived West Ninth Street could feel like.
Hugg & Hall Mobile Storage is providing shipping containers and manpower that will line portions of the street for the project. Additional partners include the City of Little Rock, Downtown Little Rock Partnership, Philander Smith University, the Dunbar Historic Neighborhood Association, Velocity Graphics, Dreamland Ballroom, and the Taborian Hall Museum. The Clinton School of Public Service will assist with maintaining momentum after the demonstration concludes.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said restoring attention to the corridor begins with understanding its history.
“This area was vibrant,” Scott said. “It was the epitome of Little Rock’s own Black Wall Street.”
Scott recalled stories his mother shared about visiting West Ninth Street when she was young, where residents could shop, socialize, and spend time in the heart of the Black business district.
He noted that urban renewal policies and the construction of Interstate 630 reinforced redlining and disrupted the economic ecosystem built by Black residents.
Today’s effort, he said, represents an opportunity to chart a different future.
“We don’t have to repeat the past,” Scott said. “We can build a new future for ourselves.”
City Director Antwan Phillips also credited community collaboration for moving the project forward. “This is what happens when community and collaboration come together,” Phillips said. “Ninth Street needs to be more than what it was, and we can make it whatever we want it to be.”
The demonstration will also highlight the return of Black-owned businesses to the corridor, signaling the beginning of renewed activity in an area that once served as a powerful engine of Black economic development.
Organizers say the project is not intended to recreate the past exactly, but to spark conversation and momentum around what the corridor can become.
After decades of absence, the effort represents a step toward reconnecting culture, community, and opportunity along one of Little Rock’s most historic streets.