The Fort Smith Visitor Center will leave Miss Laura for its own dedicated area on Garrison Avenue. For 32 years, the visitor center has been Miss Laura’s Social Club in North B, the site of a former brothel.
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Ashleigh Bachert, executive director of CVB, said CVB’s offices will be located in the former Regional Agency on Aging building at 524 Garrison Avenue, while the guest center will be located next door in the smaller building between 524 Garrison and Tip Top Boot. construction. The land will be rented, he said, adding that the final value has not yet been decided as it depends on when they take possession.
The area is being renovated to meet the wishes of the CVB, he said. All that will need to be done once the “reconstruction” of the area is in a condition to be occupied will be to load furniture, decorations and technology, he said. Bachert said the renewal is expected to take another two to three months. CVB’s move is expected to take place at the end of the third quarter or early fourth quarter of the year.
Claude Legris, director of the CVB for 19 years, welcomed this decision.
“I think Ashleigh is doing a wonderful job and I think it’s a wonderful resolution for Miss Laura and the office. It was a little tricky when you’re in the middle of a work day and suddenly there’s a field trip set up in her office,” Legris said.
He said that for much of his tenure, the CVB had focused on recruiting visits to organizations, holding congresses, and opening the U. S. Marshals Museum.
“This (museum) has consumed an incredible amount of our time. We were more concerned, active, to publish this new main attraction,” he said.
And from now on, the CVB will be able to announce some other museums. With the move, Miss Laura’s will become “a unique historical gem and local attraction,” according to the CVB’s announcement. Bachert said the move would allow the CVB to be in a centralized location that was easy for visitors to find, and for Miss Laura to serve entirely as a museum for a once-active brothel.
The CVB’s online page states that of the seven “townhouses” that covered Fort Smith’s red light district in the Wild West, Miss Laura’s is the only brothel still standing. It is also the only former brothel indexed on the National Register of Historic Places. Completely restored to its original grandeur, the Victorian mansion serves as a museum that traces the history of the brothel, Bchert said.
“We learned that visitors had trouble locating us (CVB). This measure will allow us to be centralized on Garrison Avenue and for both entities (Miss Laura and CVB) to each have their own area and identity,” he said.
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