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Arkansas » River Valley » Pulaski County » Little Rock » Joseph Taylor Robinson Auditorium

Joseph Taylor Robinson Auditorium

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1937–1939, Stern, Wittenberg and Delony. 2014–2016 renovation, Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects. 426 W. Markham St.
  • (Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, A Division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, Ralph Wilcox, photographer)

This building’s grandiose portico with six enormous fluted Doric columns preceded by a tall and broad flight of steps dramatically marks the corner of W. Markham and S. Broadway streets. The PWA provided 45 percent of the cost of the building, which housed an auditorium that could seat three thousand people and was the largest in the state, along with lecture and committee rooms. The body of the building is constructed of brick, but the columns are of stone, and aluminum is used for window and door frames. Exterior ornamentation is minimal (the building’s name is inscribed in the entablature), for the building relies on size, proportions, and the classical simplicity of its portico for its effect. The interior was finished with terrazzo floors and marble wainscoting. In 1973, the building was renovated as a convention center, but in 2014 the auditorium was again renovated and restored for its original functions.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Cyrus A. Sutherland with Gregory Herman, Claudia Shannon, Jean Sizemore Jeannie M. Whayne and Contributors
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Data

What's Nearby

Little Rock City Hall
Pulaski County Courthouse
Old State House Museum
U.S. Bankruptcy Courthouse (Old Federal Building)
Pyramid Place (Southern Trust Building)

Citation

Cyrus A. Sutherland with Gregory Herman, Claudia Shannon, Jean Sizemore Jeannie M. Whayne and Contributors, "Joseph Taylor Robinson Auditorium", [Little Rock, Arkansas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/AR-01-PU6.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Arkansas

Buildings of Arkansas, Cyrus A. Sutherland and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2018, 121-121.

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