The project emerges from the Downtown Little Rock Master Plan, which identified the vacant parcels underneath and adjacent to the I-30 bridge as key areas for transformative public space development. In its multifaceted nature, which involves not only the park’s physical design but also the broader development of surrounding civic infrastructure to support new economic development and financing tools, the park serves as a microcosm of the processes at work in the Downtown Master Plan as a whole. As such, this once-in-a-generation project will serve as a model for transformative development in Downtown, catalyzing policy changes and guiding future projects. 

Stitching Together the Public Realm

The plan envisions the park as a connector, bringing downtown closer to the waterfront, bridging cultural institutions and communities on the east and west sides of the bridge, and strengthening links between regional trail systems. Despite the richness of cultural, natural, and commercial assets that converge in this area, the noise and off-ramps of the Interstate have inhibited the site from acting as a vital and welcoming connector between these resources, making it feel like it sits behind the city, on the “backside” of the urban core. 

Over the course of 14 months, Sasaki undertook a robust planning and design process that involved numerous meetings with the Executive Committee, a group of City elected officials and department and agency directors, as well as the Stakeholder Committee, which included nearby property owners, institutions, and neighborhood representatives. Extensive collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) helped clarify the regulatory framework and shape the forthcoming phases and design delivery processes. 

A Recreational Landscape

The heart of the park, bounded by Collins and Sherman Streets to the east and west, and 3rd Street and President Clinton Avenue to the south and north, is a multimodal recreational environment that serves as a hub of activities, welcoming visitors of all ages, locals, and tourists alike.  

Constructed hills create a shifting topography that delineates various activity zones and infuses the landscape with dynamism. The hills are sculpted with Ouachita sandstone retaining walls and feature plant communities of the Ouachita mountain ridges on the south slopes and the Ozark valleys on the north slopes.

The underside of the bridge provides a flexible plaza, with space for picnicking and space for food trucks to park. Acoustic curtains help dampen noise from above, and offer an opportunity for local fabric and lighting artists to contribute creative solutions. The paved areas under the bridge are dedicated to a range of recreational sports, including basketball, pickleball, skateboarding, BMX, and bouldering, and a sand-filled area provides space for volleyball and sand play. 

In the southeastern block of the park, meadows and emergent wetlands are home to native Mississippi species, and a network of rain gardens collects stormwater. A large event lawn north of 2nd Street provides space for large-scale community programming. 

Converging Cultural Threads

The park also draws on the idea that “great parks have edges,” recognizing that the park’s edge conditions are just as integral to creating a welcoming and beautiful urban environment as its core.

30 Crossing is surrounded by some of Little Rock’s most iconic cultural institutions, including the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, the Museum of Science and Discovery, the CALS Main Library, and the Historic Arkansas Museum (HAM). The plan proposes a cultural trail that links a series of city blocks running from the park’s core to the Main Library and the HAM as a civic greenway, interspersed with outdoor rooms that support educational programming. Along the trail are plazas providing spaces for school groups to meet and have lunch, public restrooms, and a hammock grove where families can rest and read, perhaps with a book borrowed from the Main Library. 

Strengthening Links to Nature

The park also plays a vital role in connecting downtown Little Rock to the Arkansas River and bolstering the network of green corridors in the city through connections to other parks like MacArthur Park. 30 Crossing fills a gap between existing greenways, bike networks, and pedestrian-prioritized spaces to re-stitch the fabric of the downtown grid across the I-30 corridor, while laying the groundwork for future trail development, such as the Arkansas River Trail, a southeast rail-to-trail that would pass through the park as a crossroads. 

Generous sightlines will prioritize visible links to the river, and a welcoming, accessible new waterfront features outdoor gyms, a boardwalk, and a riverboat quay where paddlers and boaters can access the river from downtown.

A Catalyst for Urban Development

The park’s development strategy emphasizes leveraging the park to support district-wide revitalization. The plan outlines a vision for building ground-level restaurants and retail that directly activate the park, as well as infill opportunities along the Arkansas River to address community members’ widespread frustrations about the lack of food and beverage options along the waterfront. Other key sites were identified as opportunities for daily-life retail establishments and parking, helping to uplift overall quality of life for residents and strengthen the park’s role as a social hub.