As the largest city in the heart of the Natural State, Little Rock balances urban culture with the classic beauty of Arkansas’ mountains, rivers and lakes. The last 10 years have brought new development and top attractions like the Clinton Presidential Center and the city’s downtown River Market entertainment district.
With a solid mix of convention-ready hotels, meeting facilities and downtime venues, Little Rock is quickly becoming a mid-South destination of choice for planners.
Recent developments include a newly renovated Statehouse Convention Center. The city’s largest convention facility was redone with new lighting, wall treatments, carpeting and upgrades to all meeting rooms.
"The final touch and highlight of the renovations is a large public sculpture that has been commissioned and will be installed later this month," says Gretchen Hall, director of marketing and communications for the Little Rock CVB.
Hall also notes that the Peabody Hotel Little Rock, which is attached to the center, was named by Forbes Travel Guide as Arkansas’ first four-star hotel.
The Statehouse Convention Center offers more than 200,000 square feet of function space, and the Peabody offers another 40,000 square feet of elegant meeting space, along with the famous daily March of the Peabody Ducks, a tradition carried down from the Peabody Memphis.
Just across Statehouse Plaza is the Robinson Center, which features a music performance hall and a conference center with a 14,867-square-foot exhibit hall and seven meeting rooms. The Robinson Center is also attached to the 288-room Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Little Rock, which offers a grand ballroom along with other meeting and event spaces.
War Memorial Stadium also received a new press box last year, and the $7.3 million, three-story facility now offers full dining service for up to 500 attendees. Other meetings-friendly spaces in the stadium include the freshly renovated Letterman’s Club, with 3,000 square feet of space and a conference room for smaller gatherings.
Within the last 15 years, the jewel of Little Rock’s development has been the downtown area. A stretch of empty lots and broken buildings along the Arkansas River was transformed into the stunning River Market district, packed with restaurants, shops, art galleries, nightclubs and attractions. Market Hall houses a foodie’s dream collection of ethnic eateries and gourmet treats, while the open-air Farmer’s Market delights shoppers with fresh-from-the-farm produce as well as handmade arts and crafts. For groups, the RiverFest Amphitheatre provides an outdoor festival venue for 7,000, or a seated venue for 1,375. The park also offers pavilions, an open-air plaza, hiking trails and the historic site of La Petite Roche, the geographical feature for which Little Rock was named.
Also located in the River Market district is the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park, and the global headquarters of Heifer International, a nonprofit organization working to erase hunger around the world.
"With the rebirth of downtown, Little Rock is the perfect mix of small-town hospitality with a metropolitan feel," Hall says. "Multiple developments in recent years and continued growth for the future means Little Rock is making its mark as the next great American city in the South."
For off-site events, Little Rock provides a host of choices. Both the Clinton Presidential Center and Heifer International offer event space. The latter’s Heifer Village has 3,300 square feet of event space in addition to the interactive exhibits depicting the organization’s mission and overall vision. The Clinton Presidential Center has more than 10,000 square feet of event space, and tours of the Clinton library can also be arranged. Other venues include the Governor’s Mansion, which features a Great Hall ideal for events and Marlsgate Plantation, a historic mansion on the nearby shores of Bearskin Lake.
Any trip to the Natural State isn’t complete without an outdoor event, and there are several sites available. Planners can choose an in-town location like Junction Bridge, a pedestrian bridge crossing the Arkansas River and a popular site for parties and receptions, or hold a down-home barbecue at Pinnacle Mountain State Park, which is just 20 minutes from downtown. The Arkansas Queen riverboat offers a splendid view of Little Rock’s skyline from the waters of the Arkansas River and can accommodate 250 attendees for a dinner cruise or 300 for a reception.
Meanwhile, the city is a great launching pad for enjoying the region’s beautiful resorts, lakes and recreational activities.
Historic sites are also abundant in Arkansas’ capital city. Planners can arrange a group tour of Little Rock Central High School, where nine African-American teenagers made history in 1957 by simply going to school, sparking a nationwide controversy about desegregation. The still-operating school is now a National Historic Site, and a visitors center across from the building houses interactive exhibits. Another popular destination is the Old State House Museum, which made history twice: once as Arkansas’ first capitol and again as the site where President Clinton celebrated two election victories. The Historic Arkansas Museum is a living history facility featuring costumed interpreters and five pre-Civil War houses illustrating life in frontier times.
While Little Rock has always been a strong market for regional meetings and associations, several other sections of the meetings market are a perfect fit as well. As the state capital, it draws in government groups, while faith-based and multicultural groups are attracted to the city’s mesmerizing place in civil rights history. Thanks to the city’s ever-growing list of attractions, the CVB is expanding the market focus to include many niche groups like culinary tours and agri-tourism opportunities.
Ideally, the city can accommodate a meeting of 600 attendees, but several properties can handle smaller meetings of 100 to 400 on-site, Hall says.
Some of those properties include the 244-room Crowne Plaza Little Rock, with 11 meeting rooms; the historic 94-room Capital Hotel, with 6,400 square feet of meeting space; and the 150-room Holiday Inn Presidential, with five meeting rooms and a 2,900-square-foot ballroom. Other meeting venues include Barton Coliseum and the Arkansas State Fairgrounds.
North Little Rock
Just across the Arkansas River is North Little Rock, part of the larger Little Rock metro area. The cities are connected by bridges and a trolley system, making travel easy for attendees.
"Our downtown areas are closely integrated and we work with Little Rock to promote all the attractions in central Arkansas," says Karen Lafferty, sales consultant for the North Little Rock Visitors Bureau. "Our historic downtown continues to evolve as a unique art and entertainment district."
North Little Rock’s downtown Argenta district is home to clubs, restaurants, several art galleries and the new Argenta Community Theater, which opened in February. The theater is available for group events and can accommodate up to 300 people.
Other attractions include Burns Park, a 1,700-acre park with two 18-hole golf courses.
Event facilities include Verizon Arena, an 18,000-seat facility overlooking the Arkansas River and Dickey-Stephens Park, a baseball park with several options for small groups.
Hotel properties with meeting space include the 119-room Hilton Garden Inn North Little Rock, and Comfort Inn and Suites-McCain.
Beth Bartlett is a freelance writer based in Arkansas. She sees no conflict in loving both the Razorbacks and barbecue.
