Since Kerry McCoy moved Arkansas Flag and Banner to 9th St. in 1990, we have seen a resurgence of life and business here. 9th St. went from a thriving business district to a virtual ghost town thanks to "urban renewal" efforts by the city in the 1960s and ‘70s. When I was young, a few of the old brick buildings still stood up and down W. 9th. During the ‘90s most of these were condemned and torn down, so by the early 2000s, only the Mosaic Templars building and Taborian Hall still stood from the heyday of The Line.

Flag and Banner wasn’t the only business down here in the ‘90s, however. Arkansas Boxing Club has been on the corner of 8th and State for years and diagonally from there, Arkansas Graphics has operated since Kerry bought Taborian Hall. Other businesses have come and gone over the years. In 2008, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (MTCC) opened on 9th and Broadway. A year later, Kerry founded Friends of Dreamland (FOD). At this point, several businesses with long term success operated in the area. MTCC and FOD both have a mission to clean up and advocate for the historic legacy of the district. This is when, I think, we really see things start to turn around down here. And most recently, Little Rock Hall opened opposite Taborian Hall and Dreamland Ballroom. We have been so grateful for this addition to 9th St. There’s nothing like music to breathe life back into a place working to reform its legacy.

The process for opening the Dreamland Ballroom to the public has been a long and often tedious one. But so much has splintered and broken off from the dedicated effort to revitalize this historic place. So, remember to…