The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the West Central Arkansas Planning and Development District (WCAPDD) a $500,000 grant targeting two historic properties in Hot Springs.
The Brownfield Assessment Grant will aid in the identification, characterization and planning for the revitalization of a portion of the Central Business Corridor of Hot Springs, including the old St. Joseph Hospital and the Velda Rose Hotel.
The Brownfield program aims to return unproductive, potentially contaminated properties back to beneficial use, to define the financial liabilities associated with a cleanup early in the process, and to ensure environmentally sound redevelopment in the future.
St. Joseph Hospital opened on Whittington Avenue in 1927 as the state’s first million-dollar hospital. The building was used until 1991, when St. Joseph’s Mercy Health Center opened at the current location of CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs. It later became part of the campus of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, but the school is constructing a new building and the city plans to demolish it, the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record reported.
The 191-room Velda Rose Hotel was built in 1960 and underwent a renovation in 2001. The 10-story, 134,405-SF hotel has since permanently closed.
“We are pleased to be able to work with the City of Hot Springs and City Manager Bill Burrough and his team in this collaborative effort to target this important downtown corridor for future economic development activity,” Dwayne Pratt, executive director of the WCAPDD, said in a news release. “We would also like to recognize Bruce Westerman for his support to bring this much needed Federal investment to downtown Hot Springs.”
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