By the Arkansas Black Vitality Staff

LITTLE ROCK– July 7, 2026 – The Bezos Earth Fund announced today that Little Rock is among eight U.S. cities to receive a $100 million investment as part of its Greening America’s Cities initiative to fund community-designed parks, beautiful large-scale green spaces, and immersive outdoor areas.

Funding will be distributed across the eight cities and will incorporate native plants and trees, new parks, and urban wildlife habitat alongside recreational amenities, blending community values with ecological function.

Bezos Earth Fund President and CEO Tom Taylor joined Mayor Frank Scott Jr., Gov. Sarah Sanders, U.S. Rep. French Hill, Little Rock Regional Chamber Board Chairwoman Ruth Whitney and other officials at a community celebration today at the 30 Crossing in the city’s River Market district.

In a news release, Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. said the City of Little Rock will use the $30 million from the Bezos Earth Fund to support the development of 30 Crossing Park, a newly established, 23-acre urban oasis in the heart of Little Rock’s downtown.

“This $30 million, transformational investment by the Bezos Earth Fund will reconnect land, neighborhoods, trails, cultural destinations, and people in a way that reflects who we are as Arkansas’s capital city: A place where nature, opportunity, and community come together,” Mayor Scott said.

Established in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund is guided by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos’s belief that Earth is the best planet in our solar system.  Bezo, whose net worth today is nearly $250 billion, founded Amazon.com in 1994 and is now the executive chair of the nation’s largest corporation.

On June 3, Fortune magazine announced that Amazon had dethroned Walmart as No. 1 on the Fortune 500, ending the Arkansas retailer’s 13-year reign atop the list. The Seattle-based e-commerce and cloud giant surpassed $700 billion in revenue in 2025 with a 12% year-over-year jump, marking a stunning rise for a company that debuted at No. 492 just over two decades ago.

This is the second round of funding as part of the Bezos Earth Fund’s Greening America Cities program, with a total of $150 million deployed across 11 cities so far, towards its goal to invest a total of $400 million to prioritize green spaces as essential infrastructure across the United States.

Projects from the first round of the program, which started in 2023, have resulted in hubs that combine urban agriculture, fresh food access, and local entrepreneurship; community gardens on previously vacant land; restored outdoor trails that were previously full of debris and materials; and vibrant parks that promote nature and local landscapes.

Besides Little Rock, the current round of funding will impact Allentown, Pa.; Atlanta; Cleveland; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Salt Lake City; and Sioux Falls, S.D.  Designs vary by city and reflect what residents said they needed most – whether that be shaded play areas, walking paths, gathering spaces, or cultural programming.

These spaces are expected to open gradually over the next several years, with long-term operations and maintenance plans in place, officials said.

For downtown Little Rock, the funding will support the transformation of a vacant area that was once the site of a cloverleaf exit ramp off Interstate 30 in the River Market district of Arkansas’s capital city. This investment will support the initial implementation of the 30 Crossing Park Master Plan adopted by the Little Rock Board of Directors.

According to the 100-page 30 Crossing Park Master Plan, the urban park will be a destination park that will connect more than 100 acres of interconnected green space along the riverfront, linking the Clinton Presidential Center and an existing Riverfront Park into a cohesive recreational and cultural corridor.

Designed for arts, sports, play, and nature, the park will serve neighbors and visitors alike while catalyzing district redevelopment. The grant supports the initial phase of the project and is positioned to catalyze $60-70 million in additional fundraising.

“30 Crossing Park will be a vibrant destination that attracts talent, tourism and investment, and will change the way the world experiences the city we call home,” said Ruth Whitney, 2026 Chair of the Little Rock Regional Chamber. “We extend our deepest gratitude to Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, and the Bezos Earth Fund for this catalytic investment in 30 Crossing Park, an urban green space that will transform downtown Little Rock for generations to come.”

As the largest infrastructure project in ARDOT’s history, the $633 million I-30 Crossing Project reconstructed 4.7 miles of I-30 and I-40 in Little Rock and North Little Rock, from the I-630 interchange to the I-40 interchange. This corridor included the convergence of multiple major highways in the state’s busiest corridor.

The project, started in 2020, was substantially complete in November 2024, more than half a year ahead of schedule. The construction project team included ARDOT staff and the following firms: Garver, Kiewit, Massman Construction, Burns and McDonnell, HDR, Volkert, and Terracon.
Mayor Scott, who served on the Arkansas Highway Commission during the planning stages of the 30 Crossing interstate design, has led efforts to collaborate with ARDOT and community stakeholders to establish long-term plans for the green space created by the project.

“Our residents made clear that the I-30 expansion should do more than move traffic,” Mayor Scott said. “It also had to create opportunity, connectivity, and meaningful green space for our community.”