Muslim village in LR is slow to get going

Lack of funds, not resistance, stalling project begun in ’07

BY LINDSAY RUEBENS

Photo by Rick McFarland

Four brick houses on 40th Street near the intersection of Potter Street in the New Africa housing development in Little Rock are shown Thursday.

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LITTLE ROCK — When the city of Little Rock granted permission for a “Muslim Village” on 6
acres in the John Barrow area six years ago, the Little Rock imam who pitched the plan
envisioned a mosque, shopping center, school and houses.

Some neighbors were wary of allowing a Muslim community to be built near their homes, saying
it would be too exclusive, and voicing concerns about Muslim extremists.

In 2007, construction on the development called New Africa started with plans to build 22
houses, a school and a community center. Plans for a shopping center and a mosque were
scrapped because there wasn’t enough land. An August 2010 completion was predicted.

Today, four brick-front houses at 40th and Potter streets are the only sign of the Muslim
community.

Despite the slow start, organizers hope the remaining houses and the multipurpose center will
be built by the end of 2011. Aquil Hamidullah, the imam of Little Rock’s Islamic Center for
Human Excellence, said that worship - though not exclusively Muslim worship - will take place in
the multipurpose center instead ofin a mosque as originally planned.

Three of the houses are inhabited by families, and someone is expected to occupy the fourth
house in a few months.

Project coordinator Tauheed Salaam said he still hopes to see 22 houses, the multipurpose
center, a school, businesses and a small park completed. He didn’t have a date for when he
expects to see the developments, apart from the houses and the center, completed.
Construction on the fifth house has begun, he said.

Despite opposition to New Africa from some neighbors three years ago, Fred Wordlow, who
lives di-rectly across the road at 7824 W. 40th St., said he hasn’t heard anyone talk about it
recently.
“Nobody around here’s been concerned about it,” Wordlow said. He said he liked themed
communities because their residents are quiet and keep to themselves, adding that his new
neighbors are nice people.

Salaam said the first three households are Christian, the person to move into the fourth house
will be Muslim and the fifth house, under contract, will also be a Muslim household.

“We believe that the interest of humanity is best served when the religions are working
together,” Hamidullah said. “We don’t want a community of just ‘us.’ We don’t want a community
of isolation.”

June Hardin, who lives in the third house built in the community, said she wasn’t aware that the
neighborhood was considered a Muslim community.

“I knew that the owners were Muslim; I met one of the owners,” said Hardin, who said she is
Christian.

She said she didn’t know the owners personally but that she doesn’t mind living in a faith-based
community as long as people don’t try to change her beliefs.

Hardin said she spoke to one of the New Africa owners when construction started.

“He didn’t say anything about Islam or anything like that - just about improving the property
value, not wanting this to be the ‘hood’ as opposed to being a neighborhood,” she said.

Salaam said New Africa partnered with Better Community Developers Inc. for the construction
of the first five homes. The houses have been financed with federal stimulus money granted to
the city to renovate and build houses in Little Rock. But Hamidullah said money for the rest of
the houses and the multipurpose center is still in the works.

“We haven’t raised a lot yet,” Hamidullah said. “We need quite a bit more.”

He declined to say how much more money the project will require.

Hamidullah said he’s appealing to the city Board of Directors for funds and has started a letter-
writing campaign seeking help from Muslim communities across the country.

“As far as the collaboration that we have with them, it’s to do five units, so anything beyond that
we hadn’t finalized or discussed yet,” said Darryl Swinton, director of housing for Better
Community.

Swinton said the fifth house will be finished probably by September or October.

He said the state of the economy has also slowed the process, because Better Community first
helps potential homebuyers get qualified for mortgages before building.

Hardin said she really appreciated homeowner classes Better Community offered, where she
learned how to manage her finances as a homeowner.

“To me, it was very well done because I never even envisioned ever being a homeowner,” she
said.

She said buying a home was a big step for her and that she hadn’t even previously rented.
“When my garage door comes down behind I look back and say, ‘I belong here,’” Hardin said.
“It’s a good feeling.”

Swinton said the New Africa project has been a good experience.

“I would say our original intentions were to collaborate with them on their first development, help
out with the process and serve as a mentor as far as overall development,” Swinton said. “I
think it’s going pretty smoothly.”

But New Africa community organizers said they foresee a possible problem.

Salaam said a group of developers from Florida, whose name he could not remember, has
twice attempted to build apartments next to New Africa.

“It’s right next door,” Hamidullah said. “It’s just too close to us.”

Both men said they were concerned that apartments would not enhance New Africa’s
community values and decrease the property’s worth.

Salaam said the group would have to be approved by the Arkansas Development Finance
Authority, which requires the signature of the city’s highest elected official before granting
groups permission to build because residents would have to meet income restrictions.

The authority helps construct quality housing, and only where it’s wanted, said Derrick Rose,
communications manager for the Arkansas Development Finance Authority.

Rose said he could not find any record of a Florida group trying to build apartments on the land
next to New Africa.

“We certainly wouldn’t go forward without approval of the city, and we certainly don’t want to put
something where it’s not wanted,” Rose said.

Salaam said the land is priced for apartments and costs around $325,000.

“The community has let the mayor know that we’re not interested in apartments in the area,
we’re interested in single-family dwellings,” he said.

Salaam said the neighborhood will have programs such as home counseling and training for a
homeowners association, which he said residents are currently developing.

“We will develop a Crime Watch too,” he said.

Libby Ganaway, 47, who lives in New Africa, said she doesn’t have any ties to Islam and
doesn’t have any complaints about her house, though she said she hasn’t heard anything about
a neighborhood watch.

“It’s fine,” Ganaway said, who has lived there for a little more than a year with her husband and
two children. “It’s quiet and everything. We just keep to ourselves.”

New Africa is supposed to be a “model” community that embodies the values of faith, family and
community, Hamidullah said.

He said there are about 3,500 people in the greater Little Rock area who are Muslims and that
about 1,200 are native to Arkansas. At his mosque on Wright Avenue, he said, there are about
350 members.
“The Muslim population is growing,” Hamidullah said.

“I want to get it done,” he said of New Africa. “We need to complete this and move on to
something different.”

Salaam said once this neighborhood is finished, he intends to spearhead the construction of
another community.

“It’s not your typical development,” he said. “We’re just a faith-based organization taking
responsibility for community life.”
This article was published today at 4:48 a.m.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/19/2010