Recovery Under Way

The Best Western Inn of the Ozarks in Eureka Springs hired Perry Butcher & Associates Architects of Rogers to design and Kinco Construction Co. of Springdale to rebuild a 15,000-SF convention center that was lost to fire in February.

Hotel manager Randy Wolfinbarger estimated cleanup and rebuilding costs will total $2 million-$2.5 million, and only half of the events scheduled for the convention center have been salvaged for Eureka Springs. Many large groups with particular requirements elected to reschedule their events in other communities.

Wolfinbarger remained vague about the new building’s design, but he said Kinco should break ground on the project by mid-June. The target date for completion is February 2002.