Simmons First National Bank Tower

Simmons First National Bank Tower is a forty-story skyscraper located at 425 West Capitol Avenue in downtown Little Rock (Pulaski County). It is the tallest skyscraper in Arkansas at a height of 546 feet and an area of 740,000 square feet. (The previous record was held by Regions Center, formerly known as the First National Building, at 454 feet.) Originally known as Capitol Tower (1986–1991), the skyscraper was subsequently renamed TCBY Tower (1991–2004) and Metropolitan National Bank Tower (2004–2014) before its acquisition by Simmons First National Bank.

The project originally started when John Flake, a local real estate developer, and Jerry Maulden, president of the Arkansas Power and Light (AP&L), wanted to see a new skyscraper in the Little Rock skyline. Their goal was to showcase and re-energize the financial and business sectors of downtown Little Rock. Harwood K. Smith & Partners, a Dallas, Texas–based architectural firm, and Wilkins Sims Architects designed the building, while Pickens-Bond Construction Company of Little Rock was responsible for the construction of the tower. Construction began in 1984 and the building opened in 1986. The cost of construction of the building was $68 million. An eight-story parking garage with 939 parking spots is located on 6th and Spring Streets with a skybridge connecting directly to the building.

Some of the tenants in the building have included Alltel, TCBY Enterprises, Arkansas Power and Light (AP&L), Merrill Lynch, local law firms, local field offices for state and federal government agencies, and many more. The building was the first in Arkansas to be built using results of a wind engineering study. The first ever cellular telephone call in Arkansas was made on top of the building by former Little Rock mayor Tom Prince to U.S. Senator David Pryor in Washington DC in July 1986.

In 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that the then TCBY Tower had been considered as a bombing target by Timothy McVeigh because it hosted the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms local office. McVeigh instead bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in April 1995.

For additional information:
“Capitol Tower Dedicated: To Be Tallest Building in State.” Arkansas Gazette, August 10, 1984, p. 1C.

Donald, Leroy. “Wind Engineering Is Element of 40-Story Capitol Tower.” Arkansas Gazette, June 24, 1984, pp. 1B, 3B.

Hebda, Dwain. “Arkansas Visionary: John Flake—Upon This Rock, He Did Build.” Arkansas Money and Politics, August 21, 2023. https://armoneyandpolitics.com/arkansas-visionary-john-flake/ (accessed March 1, 2024).

Greenberg, Brooke. “Little Rock’s Pickens-Bond Skyline.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 29, 2023, p. 3H.

“LR FBI Office Had McVeigh Case Documents.” Baxter Bulletin, May 15, 2001.

Nelson, Rex. “Betting on Downtown.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 24, 2021, p. 7B.

———. “The Power Company.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 28, 2021, p. 7B.

Smith, David. “TCBY Tower, First Commercial Building State’s Largest.” Arkansas Business, October 14, 1994. https://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/82508/tcby-tower-first-commercial-building-states-largest (accessed March 1, 2024).

“Topping out Comes Less Than Year after Building’s Foundation Poured.” Arkansas Gazette, September 19, 1985, pp. 1C, 2C.

Quapaw Quarter Association Records, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Library System, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Yount, Sheila. “Wireless Phone Service Coming of Age; Statewide Technology, Competition Spur Growth.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, February 9, 1998, pp. 1D, 6D.

James Wethington
UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture