Historic Hot Springs High Fieldhouse likely to be demolished despite pushback

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — After falling into disrepair, a historic Hot Springs building is set to be demolished — though not without some final pushback from residents.

The building in question is the old Hot Springs High Fieldhouse, which has stood for more than 70 years, according to the Director of the Garland County Historical Society, Liz Robbins.

“The field house opened in 1951 as a basketball field house,” Robbins explained, “But it was also where Bill Clinton and other members of the Trojan band practiced for their performances.”

Robbins said the fieldhouse served Hot Spring High School for 17 years, but then the school moved across town to a new facility.

Another use was quickly found for the fieldhouse, however.

“The airplane hangar type design is also responsible for the near-perfect acoustics in the building,” Robbins said. “That’s one reason that the major events of the Hot Springs Music Festival were always held in that building.”

But the music festival doesn’t happen in that building any longer … in fact, the building now sits empty year-round.

Undergoing owner after owner has caused the property to fall into disrepair, leading to it being condemned in 2022 — something that made Diana McDaniel Hampo upset.

“My father, I. Granger McDaniel, was a pretty noted architect in Hot Springs and in Arkansas,” Hampo said “He designed the Hot Springs Fieldhouse.”

McDaniel has an interesting story — he served in WWII, where he spent 3.5 years in a Nazi prison camp.

His bunkmate was a professor of architecture at the University of Warsaw, and when McDaniel came back, he was inspired to build the fieldhouse.

“That’s our architectural heritage,” Hampo said, “It’s what makes Hot Springs special. We’re such a beautiful city, and this could be a big part of the city for visitors and locals, if the city board will just try to save it.”

Hampo proposes renovating and restoring the building, which she acknowledges would be an expensive task.

But at this point, it seems unlikely. 

At last week’s meeting, the city Board of Directors officially voted to demolish the property, calling it a risk to public safety and a blight on the surrounding community.

Robbins said the current state of the building and the plans to demolish it are upsetting.

“It makes me incredibly sad,” Robbins said. “This is an architectural gem. It holds memories for generations of Hot Springs people. The possibility that it could have been repurposed for future generations and that possibility may now be closed, is very sad.”

It’s a sentiment that Hampo agreed with as she shared her disappointment in the current plan for the building. 

“My dad designed a lot of buildings, and they get torn down,” Hampo added. “And some of them, that was fine. They needed to get torn down. They were ugly, or whatever. But some of them, like this one, they’re worth saving. It’s got a great story, and it could be such an asset to the city of Hot Springs.”

According to the city website, Melton Excavating, Inc was awarded a $130,000 contract to carry out the demolition of the fieldhouse.

The city of Hot Springs declined to provide an official statement on the matter.