Last month, Preserve Arkansas organized a tour of the historic Southwestern Bell Headquarters Building (better known as the AT&T Building) at 1111 W. Capitol Ave. in Little Rock for Congressman French Hill and staff from the offices of Congressman Bruce Westerman and Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton. After sitting mostly vacant for several years, the building is now owned by Pace Burt and Rick Goddard, who are rehabilitating it with the help of federal and state historic tax credit incentives to serve as market-rate apartments, office space, and event space. In-district project tours are an important advocacy tool during the August Recess to demonstrate how Historic Tax Credits can be used to create housing and jobs, and to restore vitality to buildings and neighborhoods.

Preserve Arkansas and the Hillcrest Residents Association have partnered on a pilot program to raise awareness of the State Historic Tax Credit, focusing on the credit for owner-occupied buildings and encouraging homeowners to use the credit for regular maintenance and repairs. Two types of yard signs are being used in Little Rock's Hillcrest Historic District to identify buildings that have been renovated using Historic Tax Credits and those for sale and eligible for future projects using these incentives. The yard signs include a QR code that leads to a page on Preserve Arkansas's website with information about tax credits, resources, and sample forms. The goal is to refine the process and expand the yard sign campaign to historic districts throughout the state.

>> Learn more about historic tax credits here.

Preserve Arkansas is excited to announce the addition of a new tool on our website: a searchable map of properties that have been featured on our Most Endangered Places list going back to 1999.

Thanks to support from Bijou Architecture and the hard work of dedicated board members, the map is now live on our website for people to learn more about endangered historic properties across the state. Simply click on a dot, and an image and brief description will pop up. Listings can also be filtered by year, keyword, and location.

The 2026 Most Endangered Places list will be announced next month during the Arkansas Preservation Conference in Hot Springs.

Join us next month in Hot Springs for top-notch educational programming and networking opportunities at the Arkansas Preservation Conference! Registration is still open while space is available. If you are interested in historic preservation, this conference has something for you. All sessions are worth continuing education credit through the American Institute of Architects and the American Planning Association.

>>Learn more and register here.

There are still a couple of seats left on this year’s Preservation Ramble, which is inspired by David Hill’s book The Vapors and will feature a talk by the author and stops at properties related to the gambling history of Hot Springs. The tour takes place on Saturday, November 7. Attendees may join the tour in Little Rock or Hot Springs; lunch, dinner, and bus-ride snacks are included.

>>Learn more and get tickets here.

The last two episodes of this year’s free Women in Preservation webinar series will take place on October 13 with writer, researcher, and preservationist Nita Gould and November 10 with Mae Bowley of Big Tree Projects, a deconstruction and salvage organization.

Women in Preservation takes place on the second Tuesday of each month at 3:30 PM from February through November.

>> Click here to register for our October webinar.

Watch previous Women in Preservation talks on our YouTube channel here.

Preserve Arkansas Executive Director

Rachel Patton will be the featured speaker at the Capital Hotel’s "A Tour & A Pour" on Friday, November 13 at 5:30 PM. This free monthly event coincides with downtown Little Rock’s Second Friday Art Night and is part of the hotel’s year-long 150^th anniversary celebration. Guests will enjoy a brief tour highlighting the hotel’s rich history, followed by a glass of wine served on “The Front Porch of Little Rock.”

John Greer, Principal at WER Architects (and longtime friend of Preserve Arkansas), will share the history and architectural significance of Historic Cane Hill on September 29 as part of the Architecture + Design Network's June Freeman Lecture Series at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.

Drawing from WER's experience preserving, renovating, and restoring multiple historic properties at Cane Hill, John will explore the challenges of working within a historic community and how architecture can honor a place’s past while giving its buildings renewed purpose for the future.

>> Click here for details.