HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Members of a congressional panel are getting ready to visit the recently revitalized city of Hot Springs after a public-private partnership worked to boost its economy.

The House Natural Resources Committee on Sept. 17 will travel to the city that for decades was a premier resort destination because of its thermal springs, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

The city had lost its lustre over the years, with properties deteriorated and historic bathhouses shuttered. The National Trust for Historic Preservation placed the city’s Bathhouse Row on its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2003.

“Folks around here can remember that time when the federal side of the street was dark and closed up,” said Cole McCaskill, vice-president of economic development with the Hot Springs Metro Partnership.

The area’s grim look started changing after the National Park Service began partnering with local businesses, he said. Bathhouse Row is no longer on the endangered list, and the number of visitors to Hot Springs National Park climbed from 1.3 million in 2013 to 1.5 million last year.

“It’s been a very successful program, a way that the public and the private sector can work together,” McCaskill said. “Six of the eight bathhouses along Bathhouse Row have been leased and several of those businesses are doing some really world-class things and getting a lot of national attention.”

New businesses in the bathhouses include a boutique hotel and a brewery that makes beer with thermal water.

“You can’t really put a value on how much additional revenue that’s brought into the city through tourism by having those bathhouses functioning,” said Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman, a member of the House committee.

Westerman said he’s looking forward to his colleagues on the committee witnessing a successful public-private partnership that helped facilitate the rebirth of Hot Springs.

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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com