The Hot Springs Sentinel-Record reports today that the Interior Department has declined to take over the landmark former Army-Navy Hospital in Hot Springs, which means the property will be left for the Army to decide its fate.

The massive building, which sits on 20 acres overlooking downtown, had been used in recent years by Arkansas rehabilitation agencies.

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When the state closed its training center, the predictions were bleak for the preservation of the building because of code and contamination issues.

The facility dates back to the 1880s when it was the first general hospital for Army and Navy in the U.S. The present building was built in the 1930s and grew after World War II because of the influx of wounded veterans. Ownership was transferred to the Army in the 1950s. More history here at the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 

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