Contract extended for Spa City tower

HOT SPRINGS — The National Park Service agreed Thursday to extend by four months the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission’s concessions contract to operate Hot Springs Mountain Tower.

The Park Service’s change to the contract will allow the ad commission to operate the tower through April 30 or until a new contract is awarded. The commission decided in 2014 not to submit a proposal to the Park Service for a new concessions contract, and it had requested only a four-month extension, but it had not heard back from the agency.

In a Dec. 3 letter to the commission, the Park Service’s Midwest Regional Office said it had “determined that a continuation of the visitor services provided under the contract is necessary,” adding that it wanted to extend its current agreement with the commission for the third year in a row.

The ad commission’s contract expired in December 2013. It was extended for the first time through Dec. 31, 2014, and for a second time through Dec. 31, 2015. The most recent proposed continuation said the contract would not exceed Dec. 31, 2016.

Steve Arrison, chief executive officer of Visit Hot Springs, the public tourism agency, submitted a letter to the Park Service in December requesting that the continuation be shortened to run through April 30.

As of Thursday morning, though, the commission had yet to receive a response and consulted its attorney, Scott Hickam, as to its next move.

When The Sentinel-Record inquired about the lack of a response on Thursday, a Park Service representative said it had overlooked the commission’s letter in the holiday shuffle.

“It just came to our attention that a letter was sent, dated Dec. 15, 2015, requesting the continuation of Concession Contract No. HOSP001-04, be through April 30, 2016, instead of Dec. 31, 2016,” Tracy Simmons, concessions management specialist for the regional office in Omaha, Neb., said in an email to Arrison on Thursday afternoon.

“We will edit and resend a continuation letter with the agreed upon April 30, 2016, date. Operations shall continue in good faith the same as those of the contract.”

Simmons said the Park Service still anticipates a March 1 contract with the next concessionaire but that no developments have been made since Dec. 18.

“We will be re-sending an edited continuation, which is nothing out of the ordinary for us,” she said. “It’s just our standard language to say ‘until Dec. 31 or a new contract is awarded, whichever comes first,’ but we’re confident that the latter will take place soon.

“We understand completely where the ad commission is coming from in wanting a shorter contract.”

Arrison said the commission will now gear up for spring break.

“March is our biggest month in Hot Springs, and we need to get the gift shop ready,” he said. “We will be ordering products to sell and look forward to an excellent spring break and to welcoming a new operator come April.

“We appreciate the Park Service getting back to us in a timely manner, allowing us to get ready for the new year.”