HOT SPRINGS -- Josie Fernandez, the first female superintendent of Hot Springs National Park, announced Wednesday that she will retire at the end of March.
Fernandez spent 25 years with the National Park Service and worked in New York and Pennsylvania before being appointed in 2004 as superintendent at Hot Springs National Park.
"This is the longest that I have lived anywhere, period, in my entire life," Fernandez said. "The longest job I've held and the longest that I've lived anywhere, so it's been an honor and a privilege, absolutely."
Fernandez also served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve until her retirement in September 2016 after nearly 40 years of service.
"I've always heard people that are wiser than me say, 'You'll know it when it's time,' and all of a sudden it was time," she said. "I started in the Air Force on active duty, so two uniforms, two different careers, there comes a point in your life where you realize that you've done all that you can and the energy of a new generation is needed to continue the job."
When Fernandez assumed the role of Hot Springs National Park superintendent in 2004, one of her main goals was to rehabilitate the six empty bathhouses in downtown Hot Springs and make them marketable to private-sector partners who would invest in that vision. Only one of those six bathhouses remains unoccupied.
"I am very satisfied and proud to have worked with a whole bunch of people who had a vision that they shared with me and that I shared with them, that this was worth our efforts and that we were going to focus on doing the right thing," she said. "I think we're well on our way."
Fernandez said she looks forward to seeing the new energy that will brought in by her successor.
"I look forward to seeing what they do and only providing advice if advice is asked for," Fernandez said. "I leave Hot Springs National Park with no regrets, but it's no longer my place to manage it, so I intend to fade away."
Fernandez's replacement has not been named.
State Desk on 02/17/2018