Hearing scheduled in Majestic lawsuit

A hearing on the motion to enjoin the city from demolishing the Majestic Hotel property has been scheduled for Aug. 18, according to a docket entry posted Monday.

Division 4 Circuit Judge Marcia Hearnsberger scheduled a 30-minute hearing at 10 a.m. concerning Brenda Brandenburg’s injunction request and the city’s motion to dismiss it. Brandenburg’s July 19 filing didn’t include a request for a temporary restraining order that could suspend the demolition while the broader injunction request wends its way through the court.

DT Specialized Services Inc., the Tulsa-based contractor awarded the $1,037,500

demolition contract, began leveling the Lanai Suites portion of the 5-acre property on Monday. The removal of hazardous material from the adjacent Lanai Towers is underway. A schedule included in the company’s bid proposal calls for the demolition of the Lanai Towers to begin Oct. 19.

Brandenburg, the organizer of an online petition to save the buildings, said last month that she’s focused on preserving the “red brick” building. According to the State Historic Preservation Program, the eight-story structure was built in 1926 and included in the June 25, 1985, formation of the Central Avenue Historic District. The Lanai Towers and Lanai Suites were added in September 2007.

Demolition of the “red brick” building is scheduled to begin Nov. 2, according to the bid proposal’s timeline.

The city’s motion to dismiss rests on a provision in the Historic District Commission chapter of the state’s local government title. It says an Historic District Commission-issued certificate of appropriateness Brandenburg argues is necessary to demolish the buildings doesn’t apply to structures that have been deemed unsafe.

City Attorney Brian Albright said the March 2015 condemning of the property by the Hot Springs Board of Directors qualifies the buildings as unsafe and excludes them from the certificate requirement.