Eighth Street

Parking decks can provide some unique views of the city, so one night last week I headed out to one that actually straddles Eight Street, in between Main and Scott Streets in downtown Little Rock. The deck sits right by the massive Albert Pike Masonic Temple, which was built in 1924. The temple has some stained glass windows, one with a portrait of Albert Pike himself looking out onto the cars parked next door.



The parking deck also sits by the Donaghey Building, which was one of Little Rock's first skyscrapers when it was built in 1925. The building is vacant now, but is for sale for only $8.5 million.



Looking east from the top of the parking deck provides this view of the First Presbyterian Church (built 1921), the Albert Pike Masonic Temple and the old Albert Pike Hotel (built in 1929). A full moon was hanging high above Eight Street.



And then looking west, with some traffic heading down Main Street. The large building in the foreground contains a state agency (DHS), and it looks like they left a lot of the their lights on after the office cleared out after closing time. I could pull the "taxpayer" card and complain about the wasted electricity here, but I think that at least Captain Planet would agree that maybe they could have turned off a few of those lights.