CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs held a special ceremony Wednesday to open a time capsule that was placed in 1927 in the cornerstone of the former St. Joseph's Infirmary that is now a part of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts campus. The treasures inside included a letter written in Latin, several coins and medallions, a 1923 $1 Silver Certificate, a program from the cornerstone ceremony held in March 1927, a list of the Sister of Mercy nuns who were then serving at the hospital, a list of the hospital's student nurses, a 1927 Hot Springs telephone book, two newspapers with articles about the hospital, a copy of the deed and mortgage for the hospital, a bill for the air ventilation system, a postcard featuring the previous hospital, and other items.
The time capsule and the cornerstone in which it was held were recently removed from the former hospital in preparation for its demolition. ASMSA plans to return possession of the main hospital as well as the Pine Street and Cedar Street wings to the City of Hot Springs in early 2025. Once that process has been completed, the city will begin the demolition process. Once demolition is complete, the city will return the property to ASMSA for redevelopment.
What is now known as as CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs was formerly known as St. Joseph's Hospital, among other iterations. After St. Joseph's moved to its current location in 1991, the city purchased the former hospital to use as a proposed location as part of its bidding proposal to land what was then the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences, which was created by the State of Arkansas in 1991. The school used the main building as well as the Pine Street wing for student residential space until 2012, when students were relocated to the new ASMSA Student Center. The Pine Street wing continued to be used for faculty and staff offices as well as classroom space until May 2024.