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City Leaders React to Attorney's Decision on Ray Winder Field Proposals
posted 02/13/09
9:37 pm
Little Rock is back to square one in deciding what to do with the vacant Ray Winder field. The property has been empty since the Arkansas Travelers re-located to North Little Rock in 2006. City leaders say they were close to deciding the landmark's fate, but that all changed on Friday.
The city attorney issued an opinion recommending the city throw out proposals for the property, saying each of the bidders violated city rules while submitting their plans. The city asked for proposals for Ray Winder Field back in October. The Ray Winder Foundation, the Little Rock Zoo and UAMS all submitted bids, that were reviewed by a volunteer committee. In January, that committee recommended the city sell the property to UAMS.
But Friday, the city attorney issued an opinion that all proposals were flawed...that the foundation didn't meet requirements, the zoo said how much it would spend on expansions and that UAMS publicly announced how much it would pay. Now forced to scrap months of progress, the mayor says he's frustrated.
(Mark Stodola, Little Rock Mayor) "I think the ball has been dropped. It's unfortunate and I think something that with more attention to detail could have been prevented."
City Director Brad Cazort requested the attorney opinion and questions whether the city should sell park land at all.
(Brad Cazort, Little Rock City Director) "It's park property and should be used for a park purpose."
The zoo, a finalist for the property, says it hopes to get a second chance.
(Susan Altrui, Little Rock Zoo) "I think more public input is needed, more discussion is needed, and we're just waiting to see what the next step is."
The mayor says he'll recommend the board again ask for proposals, but that this time the process needs to be well explained.
(Stodola) "We should do better than this and I hope in the future we do better. Of course, it'll be up to the board of directors to decide if they want to go through this process again."
Whatever's decided, the state has to agree to because it owns half of that property.
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