ROGERS — A long-awaited report impacting the future of the remains of the resort at Monte Ne is a disappointment, area historians said.
The Army Corps of Engineers report doesn’t address the cost of removing graffiti from the tower, or the cost of stopping shoreline erosion behind the tower, said Gaye Bland, Rogers Historical Museum director.
“We were disappointed and frustrated that the report didn’t answer some of the most pressing questions we had about preserving the Monte Ne structures,” Bland said.
Local historians, corps officials and archeological experts from the Seattle corps office met at the Monte Ne ruins in February to determine whether the site of the former resort built by William “Coin” Harvey should be saved.
Seattle officials were to determine whether the site should be saved and the cost to save it. The report was expected in September, but didn’t reach the corps’ Little Rock office until November.
The report has not been released to the public. The only local people who have seen the report are corps officials, Bland and Allyn Lord, director of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale.
A copy of the report was requested Wednesday by NWA Media, but Sean Harper, operations project manager for the Beaver Lake corps office in Rogers, said he would have to check with the Little Rock office before releasing the report.
“I don’t think there will be a problem releasing the report, but it is a government document and I have to clear it with Little Rock,” Harper said.
The Little Rock office was closed Wednesday because of snow.
“The report did lay out a very nice park, complete with public restrooms and other amenities at a cost of more than $1 million,” Bland said. “What we were looking for was a simple park with a bench or two, a picnic table and some interpretive signs at a cost of about $250,000.”
Local corps officials were somewhat disappointed with the report as well.
“I plan to go back to the corps in Little Rock to see if we can’t get some of the answers missing from the report,” Harper said.
Harper said he plans to talk with Rodney Parker, district archeologist, this week.
“I hope we can get his help, and other members of the corps, to flesh out the answers to the questions we have on graffiti removal and shore erosion within the next few weeks,” Harper said. “Maybe we will know what needs to be done and the cost by February.”
Lord said there is little the local preservation group can do until there are hard numbers on restoration of the tower and shoreline stabilization.
“We were frustrated with what wasn’t in the corps report,” Lord said. “We need solid numbers on what it’s going to cost to preserve the tower and stop the erosion.”
The corps doesn’t have the money to restore and preserve the tower or build even a small park at the site, Harper said.
“We have to come up with the money to restore the tower and create a small park,” Lord said. “We think we can raise $250,000, but we can’t raise $1 million. Until we have numbers we can trust, we can’t even begin fundraising activities.”