HOT SPRINGS - The Maurice and Hale bathhouses and the Libbey Memorial Physical Medicine Center will again be offered for long-term lease.
The National Park Service said Wednesday that it would issue a Request for Proposals for the three historic buildings Thursday. Proposals will be due by Jan. 27.
All three buildings are in Hot Springs National Park. The Hale and the Maurice bathhouses are located on Bathhouse Row along Central Avenue. The Libbey building is located at the intersection of Reserve and Spring streets.
The Muses Creative Artistry Project withdrew its proposal in May to lease the Hale Bathhouse from the Park Service and convert it into a cultural arts center after fundraising efforts did not produce enough capital.
The Libbey Memorial Physical Medicine Center,which closed in 2005, was first offered for lease last October, along with the Maurice Bathhouse. Those lease offerings ended April 30.
The Maurice building has been offered for lease in 2007, 2008 and 2011.
It closed in 1974 and contains 17,979 square feet of leasable space, according to an earlier Request for Proposal.
The Mediterranean Revival-style Libbey building opened to the public in March 1922 as the Government Free Bathhouse, which was first managed as a bathhouse and clinic to meet a congressional requirement to give free baths to the indigent population that could not afford to pay the fees at the for-profit bathhouses in the community.
The three bathhouse buildings were built between 1892 and 1923 and range in size from more than 12,000 square feet to almost 23,000 square feet.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 07/26/2013