Despite opposition from residents in the area, the Eureka Springs Historic District Commission gave a stamp of approval to a project that will give a homeowner additional parking.
At a meeting on Wednesday, May 15, the HDC voted 5-0 to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the construction of a 15-foot deep by 30-foot wide concrete retaining wall adjacent to the property at 35 Steele St., built in 1895 and also known as Hatchet Hall.
The wall will be 4-foot to 8-foot, with natural stone veneer, infilled with aggregate backfill to provide street level parking, according to the design application submitted by property owner Troy Drollinger.
“It’s going to be a stone wall, that’s all you’re going to see,” Drollinger told commissioners. “There will be concrete and reinforced steel for stability, long-term stability.”
The project first appeared on the HDC agenda at its May 1 meeting, where many residents either spoke against the project or wrote letters that were read for the record, most expressing concern that a “parking lot” structure would diminish the beauty of the area.
The HDC opted May 1 to table a vote on the project and schedule a site visit, which took place before the May 15 meeting.
In a staff report to commissioners, city preservation officer Kyle Palmer said the project met all HDC requirements.
“… The project proposal meets building code requirements for construction setbacks,” Palmer read from his report. “Project proposal does not affect the adjacent historic structure. The project proposal can meet design guidelines as presented.”
Palmer then reminded commissioners of the role of the HDC.
“I feel like I should emphasize what we said at the site visit,” he said. “The purview of the commission is to make sure that no historic structure or features are being negatively affected. Also, approving materials and determine whether or not the proposal meets with the character plan. Staff does recommend this application for approval.”
During public comments and after the vote, Maureen Miller, who lives at 31 Steele St., next door to Hatchet Hall, said she was disappointed in the unanimous vote.
“To me, it looks like a Nazi bunker is what it’s going to be looking like,” Miller said. “My house faces the side of that and that’s all I’m going to be looking at. I really thought the historic commission’s job was to preserve the beauty of Eureka Springs and to preserve the historical quality, and putting a parking lot over his entire side yard … I think will be absolutely hideous.
“I am very discouraged that nobody objected.”
According to Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Hatchet Hall was the last resident of Carry A. Nation, who lived from 1846-1911 and was a “temperance advocate famous for being so vehemently against alcohol that she would use hatchets to smash any place that sold it.”
“The house she lived in, which is in Eureka Springs, was made into a museum called Hatchet Hall for a time, then turned back into a private residence,” according to the encyclopedia’s website. It was the home of artists Elsie and Louis Freund, circa 1935, the website says.
