ROGERS -- The push to save the last vestige of William "Coin" Harvey's resort at Monte Ne has run out of steam.
"There is still a desire to save the Monte Ne tower on Beaver Lake, but nobody has time to work on the project," said Allyn Lord, director of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale. Lord is an expert on Monte Ne and has written a book about the turn of the 20th century resort.
Fast Facts
Monte Ne
• The Hotel Monte Ne had a ballroom, an indoor swimming pool, a two-story theater a bowling alley and a meeting room.
• Harvey built a lagoon and a series of canals in front of the hotel and imported a gondola from Italy.
• In 1902 he built a railroad spur from the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad line to Monte Ne and began to bill the resort as the “only place in America where a gondola meets the trains.”
• The resort’s heyday had passed by the 1930.
• Much of the resort was razed. An amphitheater, the tower, which had served as a bridal suite, and the foundation of the Oklahoma Row, was all that remained of the luxury hotel when Beaver Lake was impounded in the 1960s.
• The amphitheater, near the tower, is underwater unless the lake level is low.
Source: Staff Report
"The project was studied by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, local historians and other interested parties. A report was written by the corps suggesting what could be done to preserve the structure, create a park and trail. It was too expensive. We couldn't raise enough money for such a project," she said.
"We wanted to protect the tower, remove the graffiti and create a short walking trail with signs telling the Monte Ne story," said John Burroughs, director of the Rogers Historical Museum. "The corps' plan was too elaborate. It was much more than we had talked about."
The report was returned to the corps to simplify the plan in late 2012 or early 2013. The plan hasn't been returned to those interested in the project locally, Burroughs said.
"The excitement in 2012 to save the tower has pretty much died. Priorities have changed," Burroughs said.
Burroughs' priority is raising money to expand the Rogers Historical Museum.
"We've been working a long time to expand the museum. I honestly think the expanded museum will become an anchor for downtown. We have several things working, but nothing has been finalized," Burroughs said.
Laurie Driver, spokeswoman for the corps, said agency representatives are still willing to participate in the restoration project if there is enough local interest.
"Our main concern is public safety. The tower, despite having a fence around it, still draws young people to the area. The younger set continues to add graffiti to the walls and does other things that could injure someone, like climbing the tower and getting stuck in the chimney," Driver said.
The corps doesn't have money to save the tower, nor does it have the money to raze the tower, Driver said.
Until something changes, the tower will remain as it is, a concrete, graffiti-covered tower with a fence around it, she said.
Local historian James Hales said there have been no meetings or conversations about saving the tower for several months.
"There was a group of us that wanted to save the tower, but as time passed, we couldn't raise the money to save the tower," Hales said.
"I am sure there is still some interest in saving the tower, but I think eventually the corps will end up bulldozing the tower and a piece of local history will be lost," Hales said.
Harvey had an interesting life in politics before he moved to Arkansas. He supported William Jennings Bryan, who ran for president three times but was never elected. Harvey became disillusioned with Bryan and the Democratic Party according to material from the Rogers museum.
He said he was going to Arkansas because "there are no big cities, nor rich people, there."
In 1900, he purchased 300 acres around Silver Springs near Rogers, changed the name to Monte Ne and began building his resort, according to historical documents.
NW News on 06/14/2014