Grand Promenade
On a lovely summer evening there is nothing compared to the delightful beauty of visiting the Grand Promenade in Hot Springs National Park. Named during a time when strolling was part of our national pastime, the Promenade has been an enduring monument to the slower and quieter days of our past.
The Grand Promenade was first proposed in 1931 by Thomas C. Vint, chief landscape
architect for the National Park Service. Vint wanted a “landscaped area with a wide promenade behind Bathhouse Row” to develop the area into a park for visitors to enjoy after they had completed their bathing routine. The suggested area was a partial road used to access the back of the bath houses and the trails leading up Hot Springs Mountain. The enhanced formal walkway would stretch from Reserve Street along the face of Hot Springs Mountain and end on Fountain Street near Happy Hollow fountain.
The project was not without some opposition. A few local people opposed the building of a promenade and wanted it to be a parking lot or another street that would allow traffic to drive behind the bath houses.
Work began slowly in 1933. The old maintenance shop and stables above Arlington Lawn were removed in 1934, and the Imperial Bath House located on Reserve Street was removed in 1937 to provide a southern entrance. By 1938, the line from Stevens Balustrade to the site of the Imperial had been graded and a gravel walkway was in place. Installation of brick pavers from the Reserve Street entrance to the balustrade, and the placement of a drinking fountain, were completed by 1942. Unfortunately, the project stalled due to funding and design problems and would languish for another 14 years.
By the mid 1950s, work was underway once again. The Pyron-Plumlee Construction Co. began the grading and brickwork to extend the promenade from the balustrade to Fountain Street. This section of the walkway required the demolition of the 1893 superintendent’s residence and, once landscaped, served as the northern entrance. In 1957, Maschmeyer Co. completed the southern end of the Promenade, and the Noble Fountain was moved from in front of the Administration Building to its present location at the Reserve Street entrance.
The Promenade has been recognized for its historical significance to the nation and named a National Recreational Trail in 1982, the same year Heller Co. began the restoration of the walkway and replaced more than 125,000 bricks. It reopened in 1984.
The Grand Promenade is a wonderful reminder that nature is only a few steps away.