Workers need not touch the feared sidewalks of Little Rock. Many think the state should have looked first at abundant downtown office space before promising to rent the new building. But even if the state needs a single building with broad, open floors, Governor Donaghey's skyscraper need not be trashed. But Donaghey trustees, led by publisher Walter Hussman, don't want to hear about it. The state once claimed that the Donaghey building couldn't be retrofitted for today's computers.
Fiberoptic cable is as big as dental floss.
The Donaghey trustees' commercial developer, Dickson Flake, argues that the Donaghey's 12-foot spacing between floors isn't sufficient for new mechanical systems. Preservationists say there's identical spacing at the Tower Building and other downtown high-rises. With this cash and the demolition savings, the trustees could buy replacement surface parking nearby and they'd still have half a block on the east side of Main for a smaller deck. But the trustees don't want to think creatively. Other builders think this steel order was months premature.