HOT SPRINGS, AR – For over a year, one of Hot Springs’ busiest sidewalks has been closed to foot traffic due to rubble from the Majestic Hotel spilling out near the street. On Friday, one small portion of clean up was completed.
The rumble of machinery and the tumble of debris into the back of a big truck, a welcome sound to some in the Spa City Friday.
“It’s neat being a part of it because everybody will remember this forever,” said excavator Willis Jeffrey Smith of W.J. Smith Excavating. “It’s bittersweet, I guess.”
Smith was hired by the City of Hot Springs to deliver debris of bricks, knarled metal and splintered wood to a trailer that would take the rubble to the Garland County landfill.
The remnants of a February 2014 fire that wrecked the Majestic Hotel have sat, blocking access to the sidewalk and becoming a splinter in the side of city officials and locals.
“A little progress just to be able to use sidewalk excellent thing,” said Dave Reagan, Justice of the Peace for District 1.
Reagan stopped to admire the machinery at work, smiling from ear to ear.
“We’re very excited,” he said. “We’ve been waiting on this for a long time.”
This moment has been 14 months in the making. Garrison Hassenflu, the property owner, has been coordinating with Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA on timelines to tear down the building and cleanup the debris. So far, little movement has taken place aside from an unsuccessful attempt to auction off the property.
“We’ve inconvenienced our neighborhoods and visitors long enough,” said Lance Spicer, Assistant City Manager of Hot Springs. “We are going into the summer, which is the busy time for people to be out in the city and for tourists to visit. We want this sidewalk open.”
With the blessing of ADEQ, Hot Springs city leaders issued a bid to clean up the property. Smith’s local contracting service came in with the low bid of $4,500. According to Spicer, ADEQ determined that hazardous materials were not present in the rubble portions the city is removing, saying the majority of hazards are on the back side within the building.
The city received permission to remove the portions of private property, because the rubble had spilled into the public right of way. The remainder of the demolition and clean up stays, Spicer said, with Hassenflu.
“This helps to a point to get the project moving, but there’s a lot needs to be done,” Spicer said. “The entire property has been condemned due to the public health and safety dangers it poses. We’re trying to make sure this all gets taken care of in as timely a fashion as possible.”
Spicer added that the city would be erecting a fence to create a barrier to keep the public away from the hazardous area. The city will also place a lien on the property, in hopes of recovering the costs of cleaning up the sidewalk.
By Friday afternoon, concrete that had been covered by rubble for more than a year sat clear, and some in the city would say it’s the path of progress.