So what’s new at one of the state’s oldest and most fabled hotels? Electrical boxes and pool deck bracing, among other items.
Repairs to remedy unsafe conditions are in motion at the Arlington Hotel & Spa, featuring nearly 500 rooms and suites at 239 Central Ave. in Hot Springs.
The hotel, which opened in 1924 as the third incarnation of the Arlington, received a notice of unsafe conditions from the Hot Springs Building Safety Department dated June 2. Mike Scott, the city’s chief building official, outlined the conditions in a letter to Arlington General Manager Bob Martorana, demanding an inspection by a qualified engineer or contractor within seven days.
The letter, accompanied by 44 photographs, listed exposed wiring and deteriorated electrical boxes, unsecured electrical conduits, rotted bracing on the pool deck, roof leaks, cracked and falling plaster, loose tiles on the parapet, exterior cracks and rusted steel supports.
Martorana and Scott both said that the electrical work and repairs on the pool deck had been completed. Martorana added that the hotel is negotiating with the Hot Springs contracting firm of Hill & Cox Corp. to make more substantial repairs.
“We took care of the priority items already — the pool area and the electrical work,” Martorana said. “So those things are already corrected, and Mike came by last week and approved the work. The roof repairs and other repairs require some bidding.”
Martorana had “no idea right now” what the final repair bill will be at the Mediterranean-style hotel, once a haunt of Babe Ruth, Al Capone and Will Rogers.
“But we want to make sure we’re in compliance and that we do it right,” he said.
Though the city’s letter said that a repair plan would need to be submitted to the Planning & Development Department within 14 days, Scott said that the immediate repairs and contractor’s involvement had satisfied the requirement.
“Mike just wants a progress report” after the hotel’s negotiations with Hill & Cox, Martorana said.
The landmark hotel was designed by the main architect of the State Capitol, George R. Mann.
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