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Little Rock officials plan to apply for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant in order to construct a severe weather shelter at the Rebsamen Tennis Center, located near West 12th Street and South University Avenue.
Out of an estimated project cost of $7.5 million, Little Rock would be expected to contribute close to $1.9 million, or 25% of the total. The city’s share of the funding would come from capital improvement bond proceeds.
The city’s Board of Directors approved a resolution authorizing the grant application in a unanimous voice vote as part of the board’s consent agenda during a meeting Tuesday. City Directors Dean Kumpuris and Ken Richardson were absent.
Leland Couch, the Little Rock parks and recreation director, told the board last week that the city was offered the opportunity to apply for FEMA funding to construct two different safe rooms following the March 31, 2023, tornado that caused major damage across the metro area.
The other proposed shelter would be constructed at the Jim Dailey Fitness & Aquatic Center, according to Couch. A measure authorizing a grant application tied to the Jim Dailey facility, located at 300 S. Monroe St., has yet to come before the board.
So far in the grant process, it appears that Little Rock looks “really good” for the Rebsamen Tennis Center grant, Couch said. He said there had not been a lot of interest from other cities in the area.
The safe room would be able to provide shelter to approximately 5,500 people from the surrounding area during extreme weather, according to board documents.
In addition to serving as a shelter, officials hope the space can accommodate four indoor tennis courts, “which we definitely need at our tennis facility,” Couch said. The Rebsamen Tennis Center currently has 17 outdoor courts and three outdoor backboards.
There is already construction work underway at another city-owned facility just north of the Rebsamen Tennis Center. The Centre at University Park is being renovated to convert it into a dedicated senior center with new amenities like a therapeutic pool.
Also on Tuesday, the board approved three separate resolutions to accept a total of $69,500 in grant funding from the United States Tennis Association for resurfacing of the courts at the city’s tennis center.
HOUSING CRISIS DECLARED
Little Rock city board members also adopted a symbolic resolution Tuesday declaring that Little Rock is experiencing a housing crisis.
The measure, which was adopted via the consent agenda, cited the approximately 730 evictions recorded in Pulaski County from Jan. 1 to Feb. 21, as well as the many households in Little Rock that spend a disproportionate share of their income on housing.
The city “will prioritize policies and investments that support housing production, preservation, and rehabilitation, including efforts that address workforce housing, affordable rental housing, and pathways to homeownership,” the resolution stated.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. told board members last week that Arkansas’ lack of strong tenant protections has contributed to the high number of evictions. He suggested there were opportunities to create stronger landlord-tenant laws.
According to Scott, the resolution declaring a housing crisis had the “full support” of Arkansas Community Organizations, a local advocacy group that focuses on issues affecting low- and middle-income people, especially renters.
During Tuesday’s meeting, at-large City Director Joan Adcock asked that the directors of the city’s housing and planning departments bring the board a report next week on the housing shortage in the city and what officials were doing about it.
“Not long ago we had 274 boarded-up houses, and I would like to know what that number is today. … We can say that we’re having a housing crisis, but I’d like to see the numbers and what we’re doing about it,” she said.
A motion by Adcock to have the housing crisis measure held separately from the rest of the consent agenda failed because of the lack of a second.
Following passage of the measure, Neil Sealy, the executive director of Arkansas Community Organizations, told the board that evictions filed in Pulaski County had more than doubled since 2018, with 4,345 evictions in the county in 2025.
Based on the data, there is “an affordability crisis,” Sealy said. “Many people can’t pay the rent.”
Last December, the board voted to create a new housing assistance program. According to the resolution adopted at the time, a housing trust fund maintained by the city will receive dollars from various sources ranging from the city’s general fund to private-sector contributions.
That money is supposed to be deployed for things like the construction of affordable or workforce housing, rehabilitation of existing housing, and down payment assistance for homebuyers.
The crisis declaration approved on Tuesday says city officials will “support the implementation of the Little Rock Housing Trust Fund and related governance structures to leverage public, private, and philanthropic resources.”