Other days

100 YEARS AGO Jan. 29, 1923

FORDYCE — The Acruman building, the first brick business house erected in Fordyce, was destroyed by fire early this morning. The building was being overhauled and remodeled to be used by the Hammett Grocery Company of Pine Bluff, which had planned to establish a branch store here. The late E. A. Acruman conducted a mercantile business in the building for 25 years. … Another building will be erected on the lot, it is said.

50 YEARS AGO Jan. 29, 1973

■ The Arkansas Education Association, in its third legislative bulletin, said that the number of bills to reduce taxes has become a “serious matter” that could affect existing state programs. The bulletin said that while tax reductions are a natural result of revenue increases, these reductions could reduce the state’s ability to meet “urgent needs of existing state services and to finance new programs.” The AEA is opposed to Senate Bills 46 and 54 which would increase exemptions on state income tax returns, the bulletin said.

25 YEARS AGO Jan. 29, 1998

The Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission awarded the first contracts Wednesday associated with expanding the Statehouse Convention Center. Until now, work on the $21.7 million expansion project has involved relocating the Main Street Bridge’s southbound west ramp, which is in the way. Commissioners voted 6-0 to approve $689,854 in bids for initial construction work. … Pulaski County voters approved a year-long 1-cent sales tax increase in August 1995 to build an arena in North Little Rock and expand the convention center in Little Rock. The convention center’s 62,120 square feet of exhibit hall space will grow to 112,520 square feet.

10 YEARS AGO Jan. 29, 2013

■ The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra has signed a lease to move its headquarters and practice space to Main Street in Little Rock, symphony officials confirmed Monday. The lease, which includes about 12,500 square feet in the MM Cohn and Annex buildings in the 500 block of Main Street, marks the first new investment by an arts organization since the city unveiled its plan for an arts corridor along Main Street in September. The corridor is already anchored by the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, which has operated from its location at Sixth and Main streets for decades. … Christina Littlejohn, the symphony’s executive director, said the organization signed the lease late last week with Scott Reed, one of three partners in Main Street Lofts LLC, for part of the first floor of the MM Cohn Building and part of the first floor of the adjacent Annex building, both in the middle of the west side of the block. … The move will also bring the symphony’s complete operation back downtown for the first time in more than 20 years. The group formerly occupied a building on East Sixth Street in the Quapaw Quarter before moving to North Tyler Street.