HSNP like ‘coming back home’ for park’s new superintendent
Laura Miller has hit the ground running in her new role as superintendent of Hot Springs National Park.
The Bryant native said Wednesday that coming to Hot Springs is like coming home in a lot of ways. Miller has spent the last 17 years working with the National Park Service at various sites in Arkansas.
“I started my career with the National Park Service at Little Rock Central High National Historic Site, and it was a brand-new national park unit to the Park Service,” she said. “In the early days, we relied a lot on Hot Springs National Park and their staff to provide a lot of support and assistance to us, especially with a lot of facilities and maintenance and administrative assistance. So I got to know Roger Giddings, the former superintendent here, very well and Dale Moss and a lot of the staff here over the years so it kind of feels like I’m coming back home in a lot of ways because I knew them so well.
“But I always loved the park. I’ve always loved the community here. I love the Ouachita Mountains. I’ve spent a lot of time the last four years up in the Ozarks and I love them, too, but, there’s just something about the Ouachitas that’s just a little bit different and kind of speaks to me. I’m very glad to be here.”
In addition to Central High, Miller was the first superintendent of the Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site in Hope and was superintendent of the Buffalo National River.
Even having grown up “just up the road” from Hot Springs, Miller said she has seen many changes since moving here last week.
“For years I used to own a sailboat that we kept docked at Lake Ouachita. I’ve come for the races many times so I’m familiar with (Hot Springs),” she said. “The main things I’ve noticed coming back and going to home improvement stores, shopping and stuff this past week is how much it has grown and changed. It’s really
kind of an exciting place.
“Over the years coming here I would come to Bathhouse Row and do different things, but I didn’t get out and hike much. I’m really looking forward to that. I think, like a lot of people, I didn’t realize how many hiking trails and how much natural space there is right here to just get out and explore, so I’m really looking forward to that.”
Two community events are planned to help welcome the new superintendent beginning today with a reception in the Crystal Ballroom at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa hosted by the Friends of Hot Springs National Park and the hotel, as well as a meet and greet Aug. 23 at The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce office hosted by the chamber, Visit Hot Springs and Oaklawn Racing & Gaming. Both events are by invitation only; however, Miller said she is excited to get acquainted with the community in the coming weeks.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting with the city and the folks who own the businesses across the street, and working with them together,” she said. “It’s really an exciting opportunity because in most parks there just aren’t enough people to get the job done. I think that’s probably true in most areas whether it’s city or state parks, wherever. But in this case, we have so many partners who can have the opportunity to come together and work together, really join forces. I think we can do some great things.
“Like I said, I have a long history with the park from having been near here. I remember in the 1980s when the bath houses were empty and there wasn’t a whole lot going on down here, and it’s just amazing what folks here have accomplished. I’m really looking forward to working with them to build on that.”
While her first focus is getting to know her staff and their projects, Miller said there are a lot of opportunities for the community and city to work with the park to develop existing programs and grow new ones.
“I would like to see more curriculum-based education because there’s just so much that we can offer, especially to local schools, as far as science and art, history and culture,” she said. “I know they have done some of that already so I would like to support them to continue growing those programs.
“I love the mix of the natural world and the natural environment, the science behind the springs and the hydrology and how that works, and how it mixes with the historical uses of the site. The long history of the human occupation here and how it has become the city. The city grew up around it and so there’s the great mixture of the city and natural areas right here in downtown and I think that’s just fabulous.”
Miller said her background is as a historian making the historic preservation work taking place with the bath houses and other historic structures fascinating to her.
“The fact that they’re still here and standing and are getting new uses with new and exciting things happening inside of them is a great opportunity to keep that going and keep it developing,” she said.
Seeing Hot Springs National Park make national lists alongside Zion and Yellowstone national parks, she said, makes for a great opportunity to get even more people visiting the area to experience it.
“I feel like this is great community,” Miller said. “I’m happy to be here and I am excited about the future and what we can do. We still have another bath house that needs some renovation. I’m looking forward to working on that and seeing what exciting things we can do. And I’m excited to see the progress on the Hale (Bath House). I’ve seen the drawings and the plans for it, and it sounds like a great place to hang out after work. I’m very excited at everything that’s going on here and glad to be a part of it.”