Panel negotiates property with community organizations
The Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission held off a decision to donate a property it owns at 126 Pleasant St. to the Gateway Community Association on Monday, pending further negotiations.
The commission, at its monthly meeting on Monday, approved a motion saying it would hold further negotiations with either GCA or the Webb Community Center over the property before coming to a final decision.
GCA requested that the ad commission donate the uninhabited property to it after performing a list of desired repairs that were detailed in an email sent to Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison on Sunday.
The property was purchased by the commission along with other abandoned properties in an effort to revitalize the area. While parts of the purchased area were used to create Baxter Plaza, the Hot Springs Historic District Commission did not permit the ad commission to tear down the building on grounds of preserving a historic structure.
Arrison, as the ad commission’s agent on the property, is currently in criminal court with the city of Hot Springs due to the fact that the building does not meet city requirements for maintenance. He said that the ad commission would like to hand over the building to one of the two organizations, but only if they can afford to bring it up to the city’s standards.
“I don’t want to hand off the problem to somebody else that can’t correct it,” he said.
Sunday’s email, which was sent by GCA board member Jean Lacefield to Arrison, gave a list of repairs to be made by the ad commission prior to the organization’s acceptance of the donation. Arrison explained that the repairs that would bring the building up to city standards — replacing or repairing the roof and repairing doors and windows — were included in the list. Additionally, the list asked that the commission clean up litter and overgrown property and paint the structure’s exposed wood.
Lacefield said that GCA has received a commitment of $50,000 for the building’s renovation and that they “will utilize a portion of its donation as consideration to cover predetermined costs of repairs.”
In his responding email, Arrison made it clear that if they were to give the building away, the ad commission would not be responsible for the repairs listed.
“We are not general contractors and will be unable to make the required repairs for your organization. That you will have to handle on your own,” Arrison said. “I will be happy to ask the commission to donate the house as it currently exists (as is) to
your organization if that meets with your approval.”
Arrison’s next criminal court date is in June. The ad commission said Monday that it will begin to repair the building if GCA or the Webb Center do not agree to its terms in a timely manner.
Improving the building would lead it to be held onto by the ad commission. The commission said it would then look to develop it in the future.
“We’re not gonna fix it up to give it away,” Arrison said at Monday’s meeting. “That’s not a good financial decision by us.”