UALR has received another $10,000 gift from the Chamberlin Family Foundation, bringing to $40,000 the amount the conservation-minded family has donated towards the restoration of Coleman Creek.

The donations will purchase native trees and plants for UALR’s project to restore Coleman Creek – which flows through campus and connects to the Fourche Creek Wetlands.

The Chamberlin gift, along with financial and in-kind donations, has allowed the University to begin creation of a park at the southeast corner of campus where Coleman Creek once crossed the old Southwest Trail. Now Asher Avenue, the trail was a route for the forced migration of Choctaw and Chickasaw tribesmen, women, and children known as the Trail of Tears.

The family – John and Shannon Chamberlin and their children Katharyn, Mary, and Johnnie – are not alums, although Shannon is taking graduate classes. But the institution has impacted their lives. The parents have taken and taught classes in computer science and writing; the children took math, music, and language enrichment classes. As a family all have been mentors for UALR international scholarship students.

“UALR has been there at various stages of life,” John Chamberlin said. “We consider UALR an important part of our community, culturally and economically. Our main grants have been to support students and the Coleman Creek project.”

Son Johnnie, assistant director of conservation for Audubon Arkansas, encouraged his family to support efforts to connect natural habitats and waterways within the Little Rock area, and allow city residents easy access to canoe, fish, and kayak.

Family members were on hand when efforts began to reclaim the area – a five-acre urban corner of concrete and asphalt – as heavy equipment began removing unusable buildings, including a shuttered restaurant whose pilings were in the creek.

The site has been cleared of structures and asphalt has been removed. Earlier this month, the ground was tilled and topsoil added in preparation for planting of vegetation and trees the Chamberlin gift will finance.

“Landscape engineers tell us this is the biggest project of de-urbanization in the history of the state,” said Dave Millay, director of UALR’s physical plant and chair of the Coleman Creek Greenway Project.

The park is the first part of the Coleman Creek Greenway Project described in UALR’s Master Plan. It proposes a 47-acre greenway reaching the full length of campus with lush vegetation, bicycles and walking trails, benches, beaches, and bridges. The restoration project will also provide an outdoor laboratory for biologists, earth scientists, and hydrologists for teaching and research activities.