The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is celebrating the construction of a new $11.75 million headquarters in downtown Little Rock.
The symphony held a groundbreaking Thursday at the future site of the Stella Boyle Smith Music Center in the city’s East Village neighborhood.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said the new 20,000 square foot facility will serve as a cornerstone of the arts community.
"Every growing and thriving city must have a thriving cultural arts organization, and we have that premier organization right here in the state's capital city," Scott said.
Symphony leaders first announced the project in January of 2022. ASO Music Director Geoff Robson said the new center will give them enough space to immediately have an impact on arts education and outreach.
"We're going to immediately have space to fulfill the needs of the E. Lee Ronnel Music Academy, we will have a recording studio with the capability to reach people in their homes, in their schools and in residential facilities from long-term care to rehabilitation clinics to prisons," Robson said.
The symphony joins other notable Little Rock institutions with a presence in the East Village neighborhood, including the Clinton Presidential Center and the headquarters of Heifer International. The new facility will house the symphony’s E. Lee Ronnel Music Academy, and will feature spaces for performance, practice and instrument storage.
Robson said the extra space will be a welcome development, since the ASO has outgrown its current headquarters on the grounds of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock.
"This project has been a passion that's been driven by need: our need to serve the community, to share our resources and our knowledge, and to be [an] increasingly visible and accessible presence in the community," Robson said. "We've envisioned a radically welcoming hub for musical activity for all Arkansans."
Construction is expected to start as soon as Friday, and is estimated to be complete by late June 2024.
