HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) - Pending state approval, Hot Springs will soon have its first four-year university presence this fall when Henderson State University opens an education center in partnership with a local community college.
The Arkadelphia school is partnering with National Park Community College for the new education center, which will be located in the Landmark Building in downtown Hot Springs, officials announced Wednesday. The Landmark Building will house classrooms, seminar rooms, a computer lab and office space.
Officials told The Sentinel-Record (https://bit.ly/QgK1Ns ) that plans for a Henderson location in Hot Springs had been in the works for years.
“We hope that this is going to be the beginning of an incredible relationship, not just with Henderson and National Park (Community College) and the downtown community, but with all of Hot Springs and all of Garland County,” said Henderson State University President Glen Jones.
Many speakers Wednesday credited the work of state Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, who helped secure state funding for the new downtown location.
Sample, who was visibly emotional during the ceremony Wednesday, thanked his colleagues and others in the community who helped make the Henderson center a possibility. He noted that it was much-needed good news after the February fire that destroyed the historic Majestic Hotel building downtown.
“This has come at a time that the city of Hot Springs and Garland County especially deserve, because we have had, I say, a tragedy when the Majestic burned,” Sample said. “But now a phoenix is going to rise.”
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Information from: The Sentinel-Record, https://www.hotsr.com
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