The U.S. Department of the Interior has declined to take custody of the Army and Navy General Hospital, according to the nonprofit that has taken the lead on securing a caretaker for the orphaned property at 105 Reserve St.
Preserve Arkansas Executive Director Rachel Patton said the Interior Department informed the Department of Defense it would not assume responsibility for the hulking Mission/Spanish style building that has overlooked downtown since 1933. The state of Arkansas vacated the building at the end of June, beginning the process of the title to the 20-acre property reverting to the Department of the Army.
The Army deeded the property to the state in 1960 on the condition it be used for health or education. Arkansas Rehabilitation Services had used the campus for the state's residential job training program for young adults with disabilities. ARS announced in May of 2019 it was discontinuing the program on the campus known as the Arkansas Career Training Institute, and later the Arkansas Career Development Center.
The deed conveying the property from the Army to the state in 1960, and the enabling 1959 act of Congress, stipulated the campus would immediately revert to the Army if the Secretary of the Army determined it was no longer being used for health or education.
"To our knowledge, the property remains deeded to the state while the Department of the Army follows its reversion process," ARS Director of Communications Chip McAfee said in an email. "The property will revert when the Army sends a deed for execution by the governor that relinquishes property rights in favor of the United States."
The 1959 statute gave the Interior Department the right to take custody of the campus if it reverts to the federal government. Patton said the agency waived that right in an Oct. 1 letter to the Department of Defense.
"The next thing that will happen is it should be accepted by the Army," Patton said. "Once they get it they will turn it over to the General Services Administration, which will then be the real estate broker for the property. We had wanted Interior to accept it, because I think we all knew the fewer levels of bureaucracy we had to go through the better as far as time.
"Time is of the essence with that property. The longer it sits empty, the more potential problems we could encounter with it. Just from that standpoint, I think everyone was hoping to get the quickest resolution, which would've been for the Department of Interior to accept it. I don't think it's necessarily bad news. It just means things could take a little longer," she said.
The Interior Department's letter stated it would assist the Army in ensuring the disposition of the property doesn't affect Hot Springs National Park's thermal springs, Patton said.
"I'm not sure what all that would entail, but that's what the letter stated," she said.
It's unclear when the property will revert to the federal government.
"I have a feeling that everything in Washington is moving slower than usual right now just because of the transition between administrations," Patton said. "I feel like I may not get answers to those questions for a little while."
McAfee said natural gas powering boilers that heat the building and provide hot water have been turned off, but limited electrical and water service is available for emergency fire response. The 200,000-square-foot building's gas bill ranged from $11,000 to $32,000 a month, according to utility bills from 2017 and 2018 the state provided The Sentinel-Record in response to a records request.
Local officials have said pipes in the sprinkler and boiler systems will freeze if the building isn't heated.
Preserve Arkansas put the property on its 2020 list of the state's Most Endangered Places. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 as the Army and Navy General Hospital Historic District.
The property's phase one environmental assessment report released last December indicated possible soil or groundwater contamination from storage drums and underground fuel tanks. The report recommended a subsurface investigation to determine the extent of contamination.
