- The Hall of Waters, situated in downtown Excelsior Springs, is located within a Qualified Census Tract, meeting the definition of a “Disproportionately Impacted Community”.
- The proposed activities in the City’s application for assistance will involve the rehabilitation of the Hall of Waters, preventing the city from abandoning the property.
- The Hall of Waters sits in Siloam Park adjacent to the Fishing River. The rehabilitation supports the development of recreational uses of the property.
- Rehabilitation activities will include: Shoring the front yard and study the solution to prevent the collapse of the front yard into the well room beneath; complete the repair of the water bar that was dismantled to repair the structure failure of the floor and pool ceiling underneath; stablize the tower, replace the center roof and hallway damages; restore the east wing to a spa on the mezzanine level and museum on the first floor; restore the entrances to the building with ADA compliance.
- Downtown Excelsior Springs is an accredited National Main Street America Program operating under the framework of the National Main Street Center, Inc.
- Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 40 years. We join 1,200 other communities around the nation with our commitment to build stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.
- The Hall of Waters was constructed in the 1930s as a WPA project to bring the mineral waters under public ownership in an effort to protect this natural resource that is the centerpiece of the tourist attraction to Excelsior Springs.
- The Hall of Waters was constructed to include the longest water bar in the world, swimming pool and mineral water spa. With the rehabilitation of the Elms Resort & Spa, interest has returned to downtown to enjoy the spas and boutiques.
- Excelsior Springs has emerged as the wedding destination of the Kansas City metro area with a variety of venues to choose from. Amenities include four wineries, two breweries and two tasting rooms, a trolley and over 100 event days/year to support tourist activities.
- The Elms Resort & Spa finds that guests do not book rooms when they are unable to get a spa appointment. The Hall of Waters was an operating spa and could be reopened to meet the demand for spa appointments and the Elms’ vision to become the largest spa in the Midwest.
- The City is currently spending $1 million to address life safety concerns from structural failure in the water bar floor, which is also the swimming pool ceiling, and foundation beams in the sub-basement. This wing of the building is a conservation area, with high historic integrity.
- In addition to funds currently dedicated to rehabilitation of the building, the city can dedicate $1.5 million in cash as match and is seeking $2.5 million to complete the identified activities.
- Demonstrate that the project is a continuation of a community priority project that was delayed due to the pandemic.
- The Hall of Waters was listed by Missouri Preservation as a Places in Peril, 2019, and by National Trust of Historic Preservation as one of the 11 Most Endangered Buildings in the US in 2020. The City applied for an received $500,000 from Saving America’s Treasures to address needed renovations in 2020, but the project was redirected to resolve life safety concerns.
Our Main Street organization reported over $5.225 million in reported taxable retail sales in 2020, only a 10.41% decrease compared to 2019 prior to COVID-19 restrictions for restaurants and retailers. In 2021, the reported taxable retail sales increased to $6.5 million. There were 24,038 overnight stays in 2020 and 30,524 overnight stays during 2021.
Close to $1 million … $929,000 … was spent in private building improvements to the historic downtown in 2020. Another $155,650 was spent in private building improvements in 2021.
The Tourism Center at the Hall of Waters had a total of 3,856 visitors in 2020 and 5,437 visitors in 2021, a 41% increase with fewer visitors during 2020 due to the closure of the water bar during the public health emergency order.
Tourism in Missouri generated a $17.7 billion impact in FY2019, an increase of 2.9% from FY2018. This economic impact is based upon the spending of an estimated 42.9 million visitors to Missouri, according to the Missouri Tourism 2019 Executive Summary “Economic Impact and Visit Characteristics of Tourism in Missouri”.
Tourism-related industries in FY2019 provided 304,329 jobs in Missouri for a 0.8% increase over FY2018, according to the Missouri Tourism 2019 Executive Summary “Economic Impact and Visit Characteristics of Tourism in Missouri”.
Approximately 8.0% (1 in 12) of all jobs in the state were in tourism-related industries, according to the Missouri Tourism 2019 Executive Summary “Economic Impact and Visit Characteristics of Tourism in Missouri”.