Reopening nears for library branch
The John Gould Fletcher Library, a branch of the Central Arkansas Library System, is reopening this week after an expansion and remodeling project.
The library, at 823 N. Buchanan St. in the city’s Hillcrest neighborhood, will open at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Its regular hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.
The $2.7 million renovation project included the addition of three meeting rooms and a kitchen. The library’s heating and air system, LED lighting and interior also were upgraded. The project was funded by a 2015 bond refinancing.
The library, which opened in 1̶9̶9̶6̶ 1974*, is named for Pulitzer Prize-winning Arkansas poet and essayist John Gould Fletcher.
Pitch set to move
homeless meals
The Little Rock committee overseeing plans to relocate some dinners for the homeless to city-owned property will attempt to persuade more volunteer groups to give it a try.
David Deere, a member of the committee a̶n̶d̶ ̶c̶o̶-̶c̶h̶a̶i̶r̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶o̶f̶ the Arkansas Homeless Commission*, said faithbased groups that currently take turns serving supper at a downtown Little Rock church have been invited to a pitch meeting at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 24 at Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, 1601 S. Louisiana St.
The committee was formed to study a proposed ordinance that would have restricted meals for the homeless in the city’s 63 parks. In an effort to avoid the law, the group of business leaders, homeless advocates and city officials suggested moving some of the near-daily suppers across town as part of a 90-day trial set to start Sept. 11.
The volunteer groups are part of the Broadway Bridge Project, a partnership of about 20 organizations that has traditionally served meals under the overpass, which is technically city park space. The location shifted to From His Throne Ministries on West Markham Street during a bridge replacement project that is nearly finished.
The relocated suppers are planned for property behind the city-funded Springer Boulevard homeless resource center Jericho Way, which will be closed when the meals are served.
Little Rock will rent a tent and erect temporary lighting for the site, Assistant City Manager James Jones said. The city will also expand its existing van service to shuttle people back and forth between downtown Little Rock and Jericho Way on evenings when dinner is served.
Six of the groups that serve roughly 100 people four nights a week at From His Throne have agreed to try out the new location but others have declined, said Elizabeth Dowell, who coordinates the groups.
3 military bands
plan LR concerts
A series of three monthly concerts featuring U.S. military bands begins Saturday with a performance of the U.S. Navy Band Cruisers.
The Cruisers, an eight-performer unit of the full Navy band, plays an array of music, including jazz, classic rock, rhythm and blues and original songs.
The concert will start at 7 p.m. Saturday at the First Security Amphitheater in the downtown River Market District. Admission is free.
The Little Rock Salutes concert series is a partnership of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and the city.
The series also will feature the U.S. Air Force Concert Band in September and the U.S. Navy Band Mid-South in October.
Last horror movie in series this week
The Central Arkansas Library System’s summerlong Terror Tuesday series concludes this week with the screening of Carnival of Souls.
The 1962 horror-mystery focuses on a woman who is drawn to an abandoned carnival after suffering a traumatic accident, according to the Internet Movie Database.
The movie starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave. Admission is $2.
*CORRECTION: The John Gould Fletcher Library opened in 1974 and moved to its present location in 1996. The year it opened was incorrectly reported in a Little Rock notebook item. Also, David Deere is a member of the Arkansas Homeless Coalition. His affiliation with the group was incorrectly reported.