The Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs will qualify for a $7.8 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation thanks to a $520,000 pledge from the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission that completed a local $1.7 million matching requirement. That means almost $10 million will go to a major renovation and expansion.
Editorial comment: The A&P Commission is a beneficiary of the local tax on restaurant and hotel sales. It is much hated by the ‘baggers and Elmer Gantry types who’ve come to control much of Hot Springs and Garland County government, but who — so far — haven’t been able to gut the marketing, convention center and local attraction support provided by the commission and its revenue, much of it supplied by visitors. Otherwise known as golden egg-laying geese.
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