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by
Lin Stone
| The Hot Springs national Park is the only American National
Park with a private business section running right through it. Directly
across the street from Bathhouse Row is a string of flourishing businesses and
shops. The bathhouses in Hot Springs were famous for maintaining a precise water temperature throughout the treatment. The tubs and other implements were constructed so that a steady stream of fresh hot water flowed in, and out; the water did not cool off even one degree while you were in the tub. As the water was too hot for humans to start with cooling towers were used to reduce the temperature. Originally each bathhouse had its own cooling towers found in the back. Later the cooling towers were centralized so that water temperatures were the same in all bathhouses. |
|
The Buckstaff, which was built in 1912 is the only
bathhouse
still operating as a bathhouse. It has a neoclassical revival style
which
replaces the wooden Victorian Ramnelsburg. It has
Engaged Tuscan columns which divides the
main facade into
seven bays. These are flanked by pavilions at the north and
south ends.
The fluted columns are tapered narrower at the top. It is made of brick in white stucco finishes. There is no brick showing because the filler brick is plastered all over with stucco. The stucco used horse hair to bind it together. Filler brick was used, not the decorative brick so commonly used today. The first floor windows are arched. The second floor windows are rectangular in shape. The third floor has small rectangles with classical urns between them. Dennis Magee said that the first renovation used asbestos in the construction. This had to be removed later. A renovation crew took all of the asbestos out on all of the floors. Not all of the lead paint has been removed yet though. There are two ways to remove lead paint. Number one you can encapsulate it, or number two you can remove it. Most of the bathhouses here have chosen to encapsulate the lead paint, which was a mistake. The Buckstaff management chose to remove theirs and that has proven to be a wise decision. |
|
The Fordyce
has been restored and is now the Visitor's Center for the Hot Springs
National Park. It is one of those "Don't you dare miss it"
experiences. The interpretive videos are terrific, the displays are
awesome. I was allowed to watch the tourists in the surveillance
monitors for about ten minutes and I did not see anyone who was not
enjoying the tour as much as I had. One little boy about five years old
was leaping with excitement, you would swear no one his size could come
off the floor that far. He did it all through all three levels. Click HERE for a pictorial tour of what I found
inside the Fordyce. Click HERE to see thumbnails of the pictures you can download in full size inside the FREE ScreenSaver The Growth of Grandeur 1. The Hale bathhouse is the fifth bathhouse with that same name. It has been seriously modified twice. It was redesigned in 1938 removing the 1914 neoclassical theme and replacing it with a Spanish revival theme. The red brick is now stuccoed. A hip roof was added and covered with gleaming red tiles. Two of the windows received wrought iron grilles. The arcuated windows are bent like bows. The double curved parapet is decorated with terra-cotta. The Lamar bathhouse was named after Secretary of the interior Lucius Q.C. Lamar. It was built in 1923 and operated until 1985. It was erected on the site of an 1888 Victorian wooden structure of the same name. It is a two-story reinforced concrete construction with classical revival columns of symmetry corners. The sun porch windows have tutor arches that evoke English associations in hopes of bringing more tourists in. Neckerchief tiles were used in the entrance and lobby murals.
The Maurice bathhouse was opened in 1912 and |
**
|
The Ozark bathhouse was built in 1922 and closed in
1977. The front sun porch was originally open. Twin towers are tiered and flank the front
entrance. The Spanish revival style is trapezoidal in plan. The bathhouse and 14,000
square feet in it. Decorative cartouches over the windows of pavilions that form the base
of the tower. It replaced a Victorian wooden structure of the same name. The Ozark's scroll and shield cartouches depict the tree of life. It was selected for the National Park Service's 75th anniversary design. The Quapaw bathhouse was completed in 1922. There is a large Moorish style dome perched on an octagonal base. It is covered with tiles and camping with a copper cupola. There is a cartouche above the entrance with a carved Indian head set into double curved parapets with shells and fish. It has a groin-vaulted sunroof. The Superior bathhouse was built in 1916. It has 23 rooms with 10,655 sq. ft. it replaces the Superior bathhouse built in 1883 branch using some of the brick from the original. There are two stories of the sun porch. Brick parapets top the flat roofs. The bath halls feature exceptionally fine marble and brick. |
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