West Ninth Street

By the 1920s, West Ninth Street became notable for its vibrant, African American community and was termed as a Southern mecca for entertainment (Vinzant, 2004).

After the demolition from urban renewal projects, the Arkansas Flag and Banner purchased the structure and owner Robert McCoy led the renovation of the Dreamland Ballroom (Smith, 2022).

During this period, many planners debated between easing the upper-middle class workers by limiting commuting between the suburbs and the office while others advocated for diminishing urban sprawl by restructuring the downtown area.

However, it was not until 1958 when West Ninth Street was declared as a “blighted area” that needed physical improvements due to structural and traffic congestion (Tell-Hall, 2019).

Similar to many other urban renewal projects, the razing of West Ninth Street resulted in a decrease of land-use in the area (specifically 11%) (Tell-Hall, 2019; Vance Jr., 1955).