Community development efforts are underway in the City of Little Rock.

Tuesday, the city board passed a resolution designating the River Market as an area of emphasis for redevelopment and investment.

The resolution outlines the River Market Census Tract as an area under “severe economic distress.” Throughout the pandemic, the tourism industry has suffered. Even with loosened restrictions and vaccines available, things haven’t bounced back.

The severe economic distress of the Census Tract in the resolution highlights the Arkansas Museum of Discovery, River Market Hall and “other areas of commercial vacancies.”

Museum of Discovery CEO Kelley Bass said the Arkansas Capital Corporation, Southern Bank Corp and Rose Law Firm helped identify them as a likely recipient of funding from the U.S. Department of Treasury ‘New Markets Tax Credit Program.” He said they asked the city to put together the resolution, which bolsters their case for the program.

“City board was kind to pass it, but it should qualify the museum, if everything goes well, for fairly significant funding to help us continue to rebuild the museum,” Bass said.

Bass said things haven’t been easy at the Museum of Discovery since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were also impacted by damage from February’s winter storms.

“Over a one-year period, we were down about a million and a half dollars in revenue,” he said. “COVID-19 hit us really hard, and then of course we had a flood that kept us closed for 27 weeks. But we're up and we're going.”

The program incentivizes community development and economic growth through the use of tax credits that attract private investment to distressed communities. Bass said the program has investors who put up the money, then get a return of investment seven years later from the federal government.

To qualify, applicants must be certified as “Community Development Entities” by the Department of Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. The requirements are to be a legal entity at the time of the application, have a primary mission of serving low-income communities, and maintain accountability to the residents of the community.

While the River Market does have some upscale living options, Bass said it still qualifies as low-income based on the overall census tract.

“We’re going to be putting probably about seven to $8 million into rebuilding the Museum of Discovery,” he said. “If this New Market Tax Credit Funding comes through, it's going to help us buy some stuff that is going to be the most popular thing we've ever had the Museum of Discovery.”

Bass said one of their most popular attractions at the museum is in their “Room to Grow” gallery for kids six and under and their families. It has a small climbing structure with slides attached.

“That's about a $40,000 climbing structure, we're going to invest in a $1.7 million climbing structure, and it's going to have three towers,” Bass said. “It's in the design process, we've committed to it. This would greatly help us pay for that.”

Bass said the museum plays an important role in the science technology engineering and mathematics, or STEM, education pipeline. He said kids who start thinking about STEM careers by the time they’re in 8th grade are 3.8 times more likely to pursue those fields.

“We just try to get kids energized, about those subjects and realize that they don't have to be scary or intimidating, they can be fun and rewarding,” he said.

The Museum of Discovery should hear if they qualify for the program within the next few weeks.