With a lively downtown, thriving business sector and ample community amenities, it may come as a surprise that North Little Rock does not have a conference center. For years, Mayor Terry Hartwick said, the city has had to turn away large events, often sending them across the river to venues in Little Rock.
That all changed recently when the North Little Rock City Council allocated $3 million toward the beginning stages of a 30,000-square-foot conference center. The center will be situated at the site of the former city services center in the Argenta Arts District and could ultimately cost about $12 million, Hartwick said.
“I’m very proud to say that I think that it will be very successful, and I think the citizens of North Little Rock are going to be very, very happy about it,” he said.
The city has enlisted Taggart Architects for the project and plans to begin taking construction bids in September in hopes of breaking ground in October, he added. The conference center is slated to open in early 2026.
Hartwick said the conference center will begin taking reservations after the groundbreaking is scheduled. He added that he has been working on bringing a conference center to the city since before his current term as mayor, when he was president and CEO of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.
Plans were delayed when a tornado swept through the city last year, he added, but having received funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the city is ready to move forward with the conference center.
“The city can now look at affording this and know that we can bring thousands and thousands of people into our city that used to, we had to say, ‘You’ve got to go someplace else,’” he said.
The conference center will provide a place for various organizations to host events, including the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, which currently hosts the Women’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock and the chamber’s annual membership meeting at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock.
“It just opens doors that never would have been open for us,” he said.
The building will include a ballroom, a spacious pre-function area and a kitchen.
The conference center is slated to open at the same time as a new boutique hotel across the street. It will be within reach of area attractions such as Dickey-Stephens Park, Simmons Bank Arena, Argenta Contemporary Theatre, and other local bars, restaurants and entertainment venues.
“This adds to the charm of the city of North Little Rock,” Hartwick said. “The charm here is now being clean, nice, safe and affordable, and we can take all comers now.”
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