HOT SPRINGS -- A Hot Springs area family on Tuesday bought the Belle of Hot Springs and the 1.28-acre Long Island property where the riverboat has been docked since 1984, an area auction house said Friday.
"They intend to keep it at its current location and continue operating it," auction agent David Brewer of Wilson Real Estate Auctioneers Inc. said.
Brewer said he couldn't reveal the name of the buyer or the sale price until the transaction closes in about 30 days.
Property records show that Richard Thacker acquired the Belle and Long Island property for $1.35 million in 2016.
According to information available to prospective buyers, Dubuque Boat & Boiler Co. built the the riverboat in 1960.
It was reconstructed in 1994 and has been painted and serviced within the past three years.
It is 72 feet long and 35 feet wide It can carry up to 200 passengers on its three decks, with two interior levels that feature a full-service kitchen, bar, dining room and dance floor, and an open-air upper level.
The real estate transaction includes the 4,000-square-foot building that houses Gilligan's on the Lake restaurant on Lake Hamilton.
"This property is at the intersection of the two main routes for boats traveling across the lake," the auction description said.
Metro on 08/25/2019