Little Rock studies trading downtown land for $5M sculpture

The "Standing Figure: Knife Edge" sculpture is shown in this file photo.
The "Standing Figure: Knife Edge" sculpture is shown in this file photo.

Little Rock is being asked to give up its interest in a downtown parking deck in exchange for ownership of the Standing Figure: Knife Edge* sculpture to be displayed at the renovated Arkansas Arts Center.

The sculpture was last appraised in 2014 at $5 million.

Metrocentre Improvement District owns the sculpture and the parking deck at Sixth and Scott streets. The city owns the land underneath the deck. The district was formed by a group of business owners in the 1970s to improve downtown through tax-free loans.

The district has agreed to give the sculpture to the city in exchange for the land underneath the parking deck and abolishing any debt the district owes the city. The Downtown Little Rock Partnership operates the deck.

In 1984, the city paid $500,000 to purchase the land for the district to operate the parking deck. There was an agreement for the district to pay the city rent, but it never did and the city did not pursue any remedy.

Dropping any claim against the district for old debt is part of the deal for the city to get ownership of the sculpture. City Attorney Tom Carpenter said Wednesday that the city has not calculated how much in back-payments the district technically owes the city, but that it is more than $1 million.

The district acquired the Standing Figure: Knife Edge sculpture by Henry Moore in 1978 for $185,000.

It currently stands in the courtyard of Union National Plaza at Fifth and Louisiana streets.

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It was moved there in 1999 and had previously been at Main Street and Capitol Avenue as part of the pedestrian mall project.

Moore, a world-renowned British artist, made eight versions of the 1976 sculpture in the almost 12-foot height at which the Little Rock one stands. A previous version was about 9 feet tall and there were seven castings of it.

Other sculptures that are the same as the one in Little Rock are displayed in London's Greenwich, Norway, Switzerland, Japan and North Carolina. Two are owned by the Henry Moore Foundation. Castings of the smaller version are displayed in San Francisco, Pasadena, Calif., Minneapolis and Germany.

An even smaller model, about 5 feet tall, has two versions. One is in Japan and the other is in Washington, D.C.

The sculpture is based on a bird's breastbone to which a rounded protrusion was added as a head and a diagonal line as a waist. It resembles a human torso.

It is scheduled to be placed as an outdoor centerpiece at the entrance of the remodeled Arts Center -- an estimated $70 million project.

Attorneys for the Metrocentre Improvement District and the city have signed off on the deal to give the Little Rock sculpture to the city, but it requires final approval from the city Board of Directors at its March 20 meeting.

All assets of the district, including the sculpture, would end up reverting to the city once all of the district's bonds are paid off anyway. All bonds are set to be paid off in 2025, said David Menz, an attorney for the district.

At that time, the parking deck and land would become a city asset, Mayor Mark Stodola said. The city would likely continue an agreement with the Downtown Partnership to operate the deck, the mayor said.

Metro on 03/08/2018

*CORRECTION: The city of Little Rock is working out a deal to gain title to the Standing Figure: Knife Edge sculpture by Henry Moore to place it at the renovated Arkansas Arts Center. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the name of the sculpture.

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