HOT SPRINGS - A request for proposals to lease three buildings in Hot Springs National Park issued by the National Park Service in July has been amended to include the Ozark Bathhouse and extend the deadline to Feb. 27, 2014.
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Hot Springs, which has been in the Ozark Bathhouse since 2009, announced earlier this month that it would permanently close Friday.
As a result, the request-for-proposal was changed to include the Ozark Bathhouse as a location for a potential new business on Bathhouse Row.
Built in 1922, the Spanish Colonial Revival-style building was restored in 2009 and reopened as the museum after having been closed since 1977.
In a news release issued by the national park Thursday, Superintendent Josie Fernandez said the closure of the museum has presented another business opportunity for Bathhouse Row.
“Since we had an active request-for-proposal for three other historic park buildings, we decided to amend the RFP to include the Ozark and extend the deadline,” she said.
The request-for-proposal includes the Hale and Maurice bathhouses on Bathhouse Row and the Libbey Memorial Physical Medicine Center at Reserve Avenue and Spring Street.
Anyone interested in obtaining the request-for-proposal - which is the formal process by which the national park solicits proposals from the private sector to operate businesses within Hot Springs National Park - should contact the national park.
The art museum doesn’t plan any special farewell activity before it shuts its doors.
“Everyone is very heartbroken. We’ve received letters and phone calls, and we’ve had a lot of our regular visitors coming in to see the museum,” said Brittany Jackson, the museum’s executive director.
The museum has received about the same number of out-of-town visitors in recent weeks, and each one has commented on their appreciation of being able to see the museum one last time, Jackson said.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 10/30/2013