Little Rock City to seek matching grant for safe room at Resmond Tennis

City staff asked the Little Rock City board at its March 10 agenda-setting meeting to authorize the city manager to apply for a safe-room grant tied to tornado recovery efforts.

The presenter, Leland (presenter), said the grant stems from a 2023 tornado and is a "25 75% u matching grant. We're asking for a total of 7.5." He told the board the application would cover one of two proposed sites, identified in the discussion as Resmond Tennis, and described a design that could serve both as an emergency shelter and "hopefully four indoor tennis courts," an outcome the presenter said would address local indoor-court needs.

Why it matters: The project is pitched as both public-safety infrastructure and a recreation investment. If awarded, the facility would expand local shelter capacity after severe weather and add indoor amenity capacity that officials said the city lacks.

Details from the presentation and board discussion: Leland told the board the grant application is for a site the city assesses as competitive and that the item before the board at this meeting was for application approval only — to give the city manager authority to proceed. He characterized the grant as a matching award and stated a numeric request "for a total of 7.5"; the transcript does not specify monetary units for that figure. Leland described the planned building as "roughly 5,000 square feet" and cited a stated capacity/parking figure of 5,500; the exchanges in the meeting indicated the 5,500 figure referred in part to existing parking at nearby facilities and not solely to new parking provided by the project.

Board members asked about eligibility and operation. One member noted FEMA guidance suggesting shelters serve populations within a 5–10 mile radius; Leland said access would follow the city’s existing shelter activation procedures through emergency management, fire and police, and that the facility would contain standard first-aid equipment and AEDs but was not intended to serve as a field hospital for injured people.

Questions about ongoing costs surfaced: Leland said because the facility would be concrete-constructed, maintenance needs would be low aside from HVAC and utilities, and that some parking improvements would be part of the project scope. The presentation did not include a finalized operations plan or a recorded vote; the item was presented at an agenda-setting meeting for consideration at the March 17 business meeting.

"We're asking for a total of 7.5," Leland said during the presentation. "It's not just a safe room for tornado and disasters. We're actually able to turn this into um hopefully four indoor tennis courts."

Next steps: The board set the item on the agenda for the March 17 business meeting for formal consideration; the transcript of the March 10 agenda-setting meeting records the request to apply but does not record a final vote or formal approval.