EDITOR'S NOTE: This column was submitted by Clay Farrar on behalf of The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce Committee On the Future of the Army and Navy Hospital.
State and local officials announced several days ago that there was significant flooding inside the nine-story Army and Navy Hospital building the previous week. This was caused by the freezing temperatures in the unheated building that resulted in broken water pipes that flooded three floors.
We suggest that the only solution to these types of foreseeable problems at the complex (located on Reserve Street and formerly known as the Hot Springs Rehabilitation Center and then more recently known as the Arkansas Career Training Institute) is for the federal government to follow the mandate of the 1959 federal law that provided that when the state was no longer using the complex for rehabilitation purposes, ownership would immediately revert to the federal government care of the Department of Army.
As background, the large hospital was built in the early 1930s and was served as a military hospital until the early 1950s. In 1959, Congress passed a law authorizing the transfer of the 20-acre complex to the state of Arkansas to be used for rehabilitation purposes. From 1960 to 2019, the complex was used as a residential rehabilitation facility that housed 250 students. In May of 2019, the state announced that the cost of maintaining the facility was too high and closed the facility.
Our local state legislative delegation, state Sens. Sample and Clark and state Reps. Warren and Cozart, worked diligently with Gov. Hutchinson and our Chamber of Commerce to attempt to facilitate a smooth transition to federal ownership. However, the Department of Army has refused to accept the ownership of the property. This is in violation of the 1959 federal law that provided that ownership of the property would revert to the Department of Army.
In our opinion, the only solution now is that our congressional delegation, Sens. Cotton and Boozman and Congressman Westerman, demand that the Department of Army adheres to the 1959 law requiring them to resume ownership of the complex. The federal government must take over responsibility of the property and place it under "caretaker status" with an appropriate budget to provide for security fencing, security patrols, and basic maintenance.
As to the future of the 20-acre complex, we will continue to advocate that the property be repurposed for an alternative use. However, if our elected federal leaders and the federal government do not act quickly, our downtown tourist district and national park will become neighbors with a dilapidated and overgrown facility, occupied by the homeless, vandals, floodwaters and raccoons.
Another major and unacceptable risk of the flooding of the large hospital building is that the floodwater drainage might make its way into the adjacent thermal springs, bringing with it pollutants including asbestos and possible PCB toxins.
Yes, we understand this is not a good time to ask the federal government for anything because of the pandemic. However, when the Army and Navy facility was built in the early 1930s, the country was in the midst of the worst depression in its history, and nevertheless found the resources to build this once-magnificent facility. The time has come for the federal government to once again accept to the responsibility of ownership and be a good steward of the complex that it built.
What can the citizens of Hot Springs and Garland County do to fix this major problem? Please contact our congressional delegation through their email on their respective websites and express your concern.