Hot Springs officials are asking people to stay off the Majestic Hotel's property while workers prepare the historic building for demolition, warning them that the site is a health hazard and that trespassing is illegal.
City contractor DT Specialized Services of Tulsa began work July 11 on what remains of the Majestic Hotel, exposing asbestos and other hazardous materials and placing a plastic covering over them, officials said.
Entering the hotel means a person is not only subject to the asbestos, but the asbestos is also more concentrated because the plastic covering seals off the area from circulating air, City Clerk/Assistant City Manager Lance Spicer said.
"You would not want to be in those areas really at all," Spicer said.
But people have been entering the hotel, Spicer and city spokesman Terry Payne said.
"The contractor is seeing evidence when they arrive for work daily that the project has been breached," Payne said.
Spicer and Payne said they were not aware of police arresting anyone for trespassing on the site, but Spicer said people have called police to report trespassers. A phone message left for Hot Springs Police Department spokesman Cpl. Kirk Zaner was not returned Wednesday afternoon.
In addition to asbestos, the hotel has lead paint and old heating, ventilation and air conditioning switches with mercury in them, Spicer said.
Workers will spend the next couple of months readying the hotel for destruction later this year.
DT Specialized Services, which in June signed a contract with the city for $1 million, estimated the project would take 170 days to complete. Workers started by abating the Lanai Suites part of the hotel of hazards and expect to complete that next week. After that, workers will demolish the suites and move on to the Lanai Tower, before demolishing it and moving on to the rest of the hotel, Spicer said.
The Majestic Hotel operated for 124 years -- playing host to Major League Baseball players like Babe Ruth during spring training, U.S. Army soldiers during World War II, and tourists -- before closing in October 2006.
Years ago, developer Garrison Hassenflu and the Arc of Arkansas -- which works with people with developmental disabilities -- had planned to turn the hotel into universally accessible apartments. But in February 2014, the oldest part of the abandoned hotel caught fire and had to be razed.
The city's Board of Directors voted to condemn the building in March 2015 because of public health and safety concerns, and in August 2015 the city purchased the hotel from Hassenflu for $672,782.90 after a public auction. On June 21 of this year, the board voted to sign a contract with DT Specialized Services and demolish the remains of the hotel.
Once demolition is complete, the board will decide what to do with the property, which is downtown at 101 Park Ave., just off Central Avenue.
Many people have opposed demolition of the property. One city resident, Brenda Brandenburg, sued the city board, historic commission and mayor July 19 to stop demolition, arguing that the city had not obtained the Certificate of Appropriateness from the city Historic District Commission, as is required by state law and city code before altering a historic structure.
Hot Springs asked that the case be dismissed because the city is not required to obtain such a certificate per state law or city code when seeking a contract for abatement and demolition. The city noted the hotel's condemnation and safety concerns.
Metro on 08/04/2016