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HOT SPRINGS — The Hot Springs Board of Directors turned down the Garland County Library’s $2.35 million offer for the Majestic Hotel site Tuesday night.

The library proposed building a main branch on part of the 5-acre site at 100 Park Ave. The $2.35 million was based on what the city said it invested in the property from its solid waste fund. That total included the $680,000 cash price paid for the property in 2015 and the demolition and removal of condemned structures completed the next year.

Mayor Pat McCabe and District 1 City Director Erin Holliday voted for the resolution approving the contract. Marcia Dobbs-Smith of District 3, Dudley Webb of District 4, Karen Garcia of District 5 and Steve Trusty of District 6 opposed it. District 2 City Director Phyllis Beard was absent. The vote drew boos from some in the audience.

Dudley Webb and Trusty opposed the motion to bring the real estate contract up for discussion at the start of nearly two hours of debate and public comment. Both said the feedback they received mostly opposed putting a branch on the Majestic site.

The motion replaced the letter of intent the board tabled at its June 16 meeting with the real estate contract considered Tuesday night. Directors asked that the letter be changed to set a purchase price equal to or greater than the city’s investment. The library’s board of trustees agreed, voting last month to approve the offer contingent on if the tax increase passes in November.

Concerns were expressed at Tuesday’s meeting about the opportunity costs of leaving the property tied up for the four months before the election. During that time, other offers and proposals could not be considered.

Library Director Adam Webb said voters will still be asked to fund a new branch near Lake Hamilton School. He said petitions are being circulated to put 0.9 mill on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. The offer the board considered Tuesday depended on voters approving the ballot measure.

The temporary property tax increase would service a more than $30 million debt issue financing construction of a 90,000 square foot main branch and branch in western Garland County. The 0.9 mill would be in addition to the 1.6 the Garland County Quorum Court already levies in support of the library’s operation and maintenance.

Adam Webb said Tuesday’s vote made the roughly 3 acres where Ouachita Memorial Hospital stood at Broadway and Market streets the next location the library will pursue. A hotel group in the Dallas area owns the site, according to property records.

The hospital site received less support than the Majestic in library polling, but Adam Webb said it is recommended because it is close to Transportation Depot, the hub of the city bus system, and the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail.

“It’s not like anybody on the library staff or its board is opposed to the (hospital site),” he told The Sentinel-Record after the vote. “When we were weighing the pros and cons of everything, we realized the site has a lot going for it. It doesn’t dampen my spirits too much. It’s certainly not the vote we were hoping for, but onward and upward.”

McCabe recounted the property’s history in response to comments about the need for a business on the site that could bring in sales tax revenue for the city and its tourism authority.

He said the type of library Adam Webb described, one with programming and cultural events in addition to traditional library materials, could be an attraction for families staying downtown. Adam Webb told the board a recent preschool story time program at the Malvern Avenue branch drew an overflow crowd of more than 100.

“They might do that on their way out of town, but they didn’t want to do that during their stay downtown,” McCabe said of activities outside downtown. “There would be a draw for families in downtown area to use that style (library) if the programming was proper.”

The city has been trying to develop the Majestic site since state regulators said in late 2018 that it was free of environmental liabilities.

Two requests for proposals the city issued before putting the property under contract in 2021 did not bring back a proposal the board could act on. The property had been vacant for almost a decade before a 2014 fire led to its condemnation.

In 2022, a proposal for an outdoor amphitheater was terminated by its developer a week before $25,000 of his $100,000 deposit on the $2.16 million offer became nonrefundable.

The Hot Springs Metro Partnership began soliciting redevelopment proposals in 2023 as part of its contract for economic development services with the city. The library’s proposal was one of two the Hot Springs Metro Partnership presented to the board in March.

Majestic Village, a mixed-use development with a crystal museum at its center and a prominent water feature at the front, was the other proposal. Summit Properties principal Rick Williams submitted the proposal.

Williams withdrew his proposal in April, telling the board he wanted voters to weigh in on the library’s funding request before considering his proposal.