‘FLOWING FROM THE PAST’
National park, city unveil plans for centennial
The year 2021 will mark the 100th year since Hot Springs Reservation was renamed Hot Springs National Park, and a slew of events are planned to boost tourism for both the city and its namesake — an industry that hasn’t gone untouched by the pandemic.
Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission Chairman Elizabeth Farris said Tuesday during a news conference that the city was fortunate to have the national park as a partner in developing tourism in the community.
“Our hope is that the anniversary and celebration will bring a lot of tourists to town, and it will also provide some great entertainment for our local citizens,” Farris said during the news conference, held on Bathhouse Row in the national park.
Hot Springs National Park Superintendent Laura Miller said the centennial celebration will start “right off the bat” Jan. 1, with a series of hikes, bike rides and trail runs.
“What you do on the first of the year is supposed to be what you do all year long, so I think this year, more than ever, everyone needs to first eat their black-eyed peas — please, we need all the good luck we can get — and then come outside, whether it’s as part of a tour or just on your own,” Miller said. “Come enjoy your national park and your other public lands. We have plenty of opportunities right here in this community, so we’re looking forward to hosting everybody.”
While she did say “everybody,” Miller noted that in order to follow COVID-19 safety precautions they will be limiting participation for the Jan. 1 events, requiring preregistration via email at hosp_anniversary@nps.gov.
March 4 will mark the anniversary of the proclamation that was signed 100 years ago to officially change Hot Springs Reservation’s name, and she said there will be both virtual and in-person events planned for that day, as well.
“We’re going to mix it up a bit, and especially in the first part of the year we’re going to have a variety of things for people to do either on their own or as part of small groups, but we want to keep everybody safe and make sure we’re following all the guidelines that we can,” Miller said.
“And then hopefully, hopefully, later in the year we’ll be in a place where we can do some really big events in public. We’re planning all kinds of things: Festivals, street parties, you name it. There’ll be something for everybody. For our families, for our canine companions. For everybody to come out and enjoy their park and have fun.
“We’ve done a lot of planning this year and we’ve had to be very flexible, but we’ve thought through ‘OK, in the first part of the year, a lot of our events are going to be virtual, or are going to be smaller type events, things that people can either participate online or on their own.’ … We tried to front-load the year with those kinds of events, and we’re really hoping by May, June, July, we’ll be able to get back out and be together in a big group,” she said.
“We may have to change some things, and that’s why we’ll have our calendar of events updated on the website as we go through, just in case plans do have to change, but we’ve kind of thought through the contingencies, and we hope we’ll have something for everyone to do.”
The fluid calendar of events can be found at nps.gov/hosp/getinvolved/centennial.
“You know, 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, I think,” Miller said. “I’m not alone in thinking that, but for more than 100 years people have come to Hot Springs National Park to heal their bodies, their minds and their spirits, and this year was no exception.
“We’re going to be here on into the future, so we’re looking forward to celebrating our 100th anniversary as a national park, and as we like to say: flowing from the past and springing into the future, and that’s what we plan to do.”