A Bombshell at Burns Park, Literally

St. Joseph Center of Arkansas (SJCA) will rebuild and reopen the community gardens at Dunbar Garden, the two-acre urban garden and outdoor classroom at 1800 S. Chester St. Construction of 24 raised garden beds begins this fall, and the beds will be ready for community gardeners in spring 2027. The project is funded by a $5,000 grant from Summit Utilities' Summit Cares program and by a portion of a $10,000 grant from Whole Foods Community First Foundation, which will cover the cost of the raised beds. The grants were originally awarded for community gardens planned at Burns Park in North Little Rock. When that project was placed on hold by the City of North Little Rock, both Summit Utilities and Whole Foods worked with SJCA to redirect their funding to Dunbar Garden — keeping the money at work growing food in Central Arkansas without missing a season. Founded in 1992, Dunbar Garden has served generations of students from the neighboring Dunbar Magnet Middle School and Gibbs Magnet Elementary School as a hands-on outdoor classroom. Its original individual garden plots were retired more than two decades ago as the garden focused on education. This project brings community growing space back to the historic Dunbar neighborhood. "We're excited to rebuild these gardens and give more people in Central Arkansas the opportunity to grow food and community," said Scott Shellabarger, Executive Director of St. Joseph Center of Arkansas. "Summit Utilities and Whole Foods didn't just fund a project, when plans changed, they stayed with us. That flexibility, together with our partners at Dunbar Garden, the City of Little Rock, and the Little Rock School District, is what will put twenty-four families in the dirt next spring." "Almost weekly since I began working at Dunbar Garden, I’ve been approached by people in our community asking if they could establish a personal garden bed at Dunbar. I’ve had to tell them that we weren’t set up for it yet, but that’s about to change. In partnership with St. Joseph’s, we’ll be able to meet that need. I’m excited to realize this project and to create opportunities for people to grow their own food in downtown Little Rock, " said Eliot Peterson, the manager of Dunbar Garden. About St. Joseph Center of Arkansas: St. Joseph Center of Arkansas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that teaches people how to grow food, farmers, and community. Through hands-on classes, garden-based learning, and farmer training, we help people of all ages discover the joy of growing fresh, healthy food and the skills to share it.After losing its longtime farm campus to fire in 2025, SJCA continues growing its mission across Central Arkansas. The Dunbar Garden rebuild is part of that next chapter. About Dunbar Garden: Dunbar Garden is a two-acre nonprofit urban garden and outdoor classroom in Little Rock's historic Dunbar neighborhood, operating in partnership with the Little Rock School District and the City of Little Rock since 1992.

Farm Stop Research

In 2026, West Little Rock is becoming a center of Arkansas' local food movement and we're proud to be a part of it. Close to 2000 people show up every week for the West Little Rock Farmers Market on April 18th. SJCA is helping manage this market and we're thrilled to announce that we will be opening a new Farm Store at Breckenridge Village. Our retail space will share a building with The Root Cafe, making it one of the most natural neighborhood fits we could have imagined for a SJCA Farm Store. A Neighborhood Built Around Local Food Breckenridge Village is becoming a destination for people who care deeply about where their food comes from. The Root at Breckenridge brings the same passion for locally sourced ingredients, scratch-made dishes, and warm, welcoming atmosphere that has made their original SoMa location a staple in central Arkansas. Seventy-five percent of The Root's operating budget stays inside Arkansas. That commitment mirrors SJCA's mission to support local farmers. The West Little Rock Farmers Market is a collaborative effort made possible by community leaders and sponsors including Kelley Property Management, the Keet Restaurant Group, The Root Cafe, Simmons Bank, Ben E. Keith, and Good Earth Garden Center, dedicated to investing in West Little Rock's local food economy. The Breckenridge Village ownership team saw a true neighborhood hub for food, culture, and connection and invited SJCA to be part of it. That kind of shared vision is rare, and we're grateful to be building it alongside partners who understand that a food community is more than the sum of its tenants. What's Next You've been asking us where you can shop again. Our new Farm Store will carry the same locally grown produce, value-added products, and Arkansas-made goods you came to love. Same mission. Same farmers. Same community. New neighborhood. We'll be sharing details on our Farm Store opening timeline, featured vendors, and grand opening events in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, the West Little Rock Farmers Market runs every Saturday, right here at Breckenridge Village from 8am till noon . SJCA continues its presence in North Little Rock with the Argenta Farmers Market every Thursday from 5-7:30pm in the parking lot of Flyway Brewery. Come say hello, meet your local producers, and get a taste of what's coming.

We're still finishing the takedown at the old farm site even as we launch new programs across central Arkansas. Garden911 and monthly education We're now helping community gardens across central Arkansas keep growing, including Dunbar, Providence Park, Woodruff, and Boones Park. Free monthly field days for gardeners and farmers continue, along with our farmer meetup at Flyway Brewing in North Little Rock. More info at growingurbanfarmers.org. West Little Rock Farmers Market In partnership with The Root Cafe and the Arkansas Local Food Network, we're managing the new West Little Rock Farmers Market. Opening day on April 18 drew nearly 2,000 visitors, and most producers sold out before noon. Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon. Details at westlittlerockfarmersmarket.org. Argenta Farmers Market Launching Thursday evenings, 5:30 to 7:00 PM, starting April 30. West Little Rock Farm Store We're looking into opening a new farm store in the same building as The Root Cafe, carrying the same great products as the original farm and supporting even more Arkansas producers. More updates as things progress. Burns Park proposal Cities across the country have figured out that nonprofits can steward public parkland better and cheaper than going it alone. We've submitted a proposal to the City of North Little Rock to do exactly that at Burns Park: build, fund, operate, and maintain a public garden and outdoor recreation space at no cost to taxpayers, under full City ownership and oversight. The model is well established: Central Park Conservancy has managed Central Park under contract with NYC since 1998, investing over $950 million and funding about 75% of the park's $67M annual operating budget through private donations. NeighborSpace partners with the City of Chicago and Chicago Parks District to acquire and preserve property for community gardens, with more than 50 sites preserved to date. Friends of the Old Mill and Pulaski County Master Gardeners, right here in North Little Rock, work with NLR Parks and Recreation and the Arkansas Master Gardeners to maintain T.R. Pugh Memorial Park, a city-owned, National Register listed site. Argenta Downtown Council maintains streetscaping, flowerbeds, murals, and public spaces throughout downtown North Little Rock, planting 22,000 tulips and hosting 23 free community events in 2024 alone. We're proposing the same partnership at a larger scale, with full organizational capacity and no City funding required. To support the project, please sign our petition . Innovation Hub The hunt for a new Innovation Hub continues. The frontrunner is Fire Station #1 in Argenta, which will be vacated when the new fire station opens across the viaduct. If you have other site ideas, email me directly. To support the Fire Station #1 location, sign our petition . The original Hub was built with $1 million in EDA (Economic Development Administration) funds plus community support, and we're confident we can secure similar backing for a new location. Thank you for continuing to show up for SJCA. You make this work possible.

A New Chapter is Growing and We Want You to Be Part of It 

New farmers market supports local producers

Hey everyone, It's been weeks since our last update, so I wanted to bring you up to speed on where things stand. Properties Under Review We're actively evaluating lot of locations for the relaunched Hub: 201 E. Broadway — This is the original Hub building, now owned by Makan Hospitality. We've submitted a lease counter-proposal and are in negotiations. The challenge here is to get the lease down to an amount we can afford. Fire Station No. 1, 723 N. Maple Street — This is the city-owned central fire station in Argenta. Once the new $12M central station opens (expected mid-2026), this 18,000+ square foot building becomes surplus property. It's a strong candidate for a place to reopen the Hub while we develop the longer-term vision. We're already in conversations with the city about it. Midtown 1800 Maple Street — A 4-story, 29,500 square foot building on 1.5 acres with an adjacent 1.34-acre lot. The vision at this location is a full maker campus: Hub operations on the ground floor, artist studio apartments on floors 2–4 (funded through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits), a purpose-built workshop, solar, rooftop gardens, and a standalone farm market. 600 N Broadway (Diamond Bear Brewing) — nearly 25,000 square feet on 3 acres, with an adjacent acre also available. It's zoned industrial and already has heavy infrastructure in place: commercial kitchen, loading dock, overhead doors, offices, and electrical service sized for brewery operations. The building went to auction in late 2024 without meeting its reserve price, and it's been listed with Moses Tucker since. With room for a full campus that include outdoor programming, parking, future expansion. We're taking a close look at this one. Midtown 100 E 11th Street — A 17,000 square foot warehouse (the old Harris Siding & Supply building) Just north of Argenta almost under the main street railroad bridge. It’s not the most visible location, but the price per square foot is hard to beat, and the industrial zoning means workshop and fabrication activities are permitted uses. It's been on the market for over two years. This one functions best as a fallback or interim option it's available now and within reach financially. Learning From What Works  We've been studying successful makerspaces across the country to make sure we're building a model that lasts. Some of the spaces we've looked at include: Dallas Makerspace (TX) — 36,000 sq ft, 1,500 members, 100% volunteer-run. Proof that a cooperative model can work at scale. Artisan's Asylum (Boston) — 52,000 sq ft, ~1,200 members, one of the few spaces to publicly report revenue (~$1.4M). Classes drove their early growth; memberships and studio rentals sustain them now. TinkerMill (Longmont, CO) — ~18,000 sq ft, ~300 members. Closest in size to what we're planning. Nonprofit, community-driven. i3Detroit — 8,000 sq ft, entirely volunteer-operated. Membership dues cover all expenses. A lean, sustainable model. Columbus Idea Foundry — 60,000+ sq ft in a converted shoe factory. One of the largest community makerspaces in the world. Strong mix of classes, coworking, studios, and event space. TXRX Labs (Houston) — 50,000+ sq ft, serves 4,000+ people annually. Deep STEAM youth education programs. The common thread across all successful spaces: earned income thru memberships, classes, fabrication services, and studio rentals is what makes them sustainable. That's exactly the model we're building. EDA Lien Update For those who've been following the federal side of this story, the $1 million EDA lien on the original Hub building at 201 E. Broadway has been settled. Winrock resolved it with the EDA as part of the sale to the new owner. We've filed a FOIA request for the details of that settlement, including how much Winrock actually paid. We expect to have that information in the coming weeks and will share what we learn. What's Next Continuing property negotiations and city engagement Building out the new website Volunteer working groups are active in Basecamp, if you want to get involved, reply to this email Financial modeling continues to evolve — all documentation is at savethehub.org Thank you for sticking with us. If you have locations or ideas please email or call. Scott Shellabarger

Established in 1907, St. Joseph's Home & Farm served this community for over a century. As an orphanage, school, military hotel, nursing home, daycare, and retreat center run by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica, it was always a place of purpose. In 2008, when the Diocese of Little Rock announced that St. Joseph's Home would close and the property would be sold, a group of passionate community members stepped up and created of St. Joseph Center of Arkansas . In 2010, SJCA (501c3) signed a 50-year lease with the diocese, assuming all fiscal and management responsibilities for the property. What followed was a remarkable resurrection. Through the hard work and dedication the historic site was transformed into a dynamic urban farm and community hub. Over the course of the last 17 years, we used this historic place to build our community-based organization focused on agricultural education, historic preservation, and supporting local artists. What started on a single Century Farm grew into something much bigger than any of us imagined: Supporting over 50 local artists with subsidized studio space and markets where they could share and sell their work Empowering local farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs through free classes, market access, and the space to grow their businesses Operating the largest community gardens in North Little Rock , putting food and knowledge directly into the hands of our neighbors Welcoming thousands of RV and overnight visitors introducing them to our corner of Arkansas Hosting AmeriCorps groups year after year , giving young people hands-on experience in public service Growing food for the Hunger Relief Alliance and local food pantries , turning our soil into meals for families who needed them Caring for farm animals with the help of an incredible team of dedicated volunteers Building a farm store focused on local farmers and producers that grew to serve 22,000 customers a year, proof that people will show up when you give them a way to support their neighbors On March 19th, 2025, a fire claimed the iconic historic building. It was a devastating loss for the entire community that had come to call this place their own. The fire prompted a period of reorganization and deep reflection about who we are and what we stand for. What emerged was not a new organization, but a renewed one with a sharpened mission and a greater emphasis on community: SJCA grows community through agriculture, arts, and innovation. Cultivating spaces where people grow together. SJCA is no longer physically located at or tied to the historic St Joseph farm and building, but we carry forward the tradition of gathering people together, serving this community, and creating spaces where good things take root. That tradition doesn't live in a building, it lives in the work. By keeping our name we honor the legacy of St. Joseph's Home while making clear that our work has grown beyond any single place. The community spirit that defined that property for more than a hundred years is alive in everything we do.