McCabes, NPS to sign Hale lease on Friday
After more than three years of lease negotiations, Hot Springs Mayor Pat McCabe and his wife, Ellen, will sign a lease with the National Park Service on Friday to reopen the Hale Bath House as the first, and only, boutique hotel in Hot Springs National Park.
The Park Service said in a news release it will sign the lease with Zest Enterprise LLC at 2 p.m. Friday. Ellen McCabe is listed as the registered agent for the company, according to the Arkansas secretary of state’s office. Pat McCabe is the president and CEO of Levi Hospital.
A public open house of the building will follow the signing event to
provide the public with an opportunity to see the building prior to its transformation, the Park Service said in the release.
The McCabes announced their intent to enter lease negotiations with the Park Service to open the boutique hotel and restaurant in the Hale during a ceremony held in June 2014, marking the occasion with the receipt of a folded flag they could hoist after they occupied the building, originally projected for 2015.
The McCabes submitted a proposal to the Park Service to operate a boutique hotel, restaurant and conference/ retreat center at the Hale, according to the release, and the long-awaited signing of the lease is the “culmination of negotiations which included submitting all architectural renderings and getting approvals that take into account operating in a historic building.”
The lease authorizes the McCabes to offer overnight accommodations with access to the thermal waters for each of the nine rooms, two of which will be signature suites. The lease also allows for a restaurant, bar lounge and conference center to host special events and private functions, it said.
“We are thrilled that another one of these beautiful buildings will be reopening to serve visitors and offer a new experience in the park,” Hot Springs National Park Superintendent Josie Fernandez said in the release.
The signing will be held on Founder’s Day, the 101st birthday of the National Park Service.
“We are looking forward to working with Pat and Ellen McCabe and their team of architects and building contractors in this effort,” Fernandez said.
“This is a viable and appropriate new use of the building that is in keeping our historic preservation mandate and provide a positive economic impact to this community,” she said.
The NPS has executed three long-term leases at Hot Springs National Park since 2007. The Quapaw Baths & Spa, which offers spa services and the thermal waters in pools or a private setting, is located in the Quapaw Bath House; the Superior Bathhouse Brewery and Distillery, in the Superior Bath House, offers brewery beverages and pubtype foods; and the Ozark Bath House, which formerly housed The Museum of Contemporary Art, is now operated by the Park Service as a home for the Artist In Residence program and serves as a popular setting for wedding receptions and gatherings.