Convention center arena installs new carpeting
Bank of the Ozarks Arena got a fresh covering of carpet this week.
The carpet that was covering the floor inside the arena and the concourse that runs on the north side of it was replaced with 20,000 square feet of carpet. The replacement is part of the convention center’s five-year capital plan.
“We’re just trying to maintain a stateof-the-art convention center,” said Gordon Mahoney, Chief Operating Officer of Visit Hot Springs. “That’s the biggest thing.”
Mahoney said the convention center’s capital plan included the installation of new carpet 10 years after the last carpet installation. He said the carpet that was pulled up early in the week for replacement had “some bad areas.”
“There were some rips and tears, and it was looking pretty rough,” he said. “It was time to replace it.”
The new carpet squares, which were installed by JGP Inc. of Little Rock, sport the same pattern and blue background as the carpet in the rest of the convention center.
“I don’t think you’ll really notice going from one area to the other,” Mahoney said.
The installation of the carpet cost a total of $106,000. Another $1,500 to $2,000 will be spent for the bailing and recycling of the carpet being removed, which Mahoney said is part of a green initiative
Visit Hot Springs started roughly a decade ago.
“They’re not gonna take it and burn it or put it in a landfill,” he said. “That’s the whole point.”
Mahoney said the carpet in the arena and concourse will hopefully not be replaced for at least another five years. He said Visit Hot Springs will most likely replace this carpeted area in 10 years, as was the case for this replacement.
Mahoney said the new carpet, like other initiatives such as updating the sound system in Horner Hall, is part of the larger mission of the convention center.
“This, to me, is the premiere facility, the stateof-the-art modern facility, in this area, to keep bringing people to Hot Springs,” he said. “I think we do a fair job of that, and that’s our goal.”