Hot Springs, Arkansas has always been a favorite place for a short getaway from Texarkana but did you know one of the most iconic buildings downtown has been holding a secret for years?

You can't help but notice this beautiful historical building in the heart of the historic district that opened in 1933 as the Hot Springs Army-Navy Hospital for decades before it was known as the Rehab building eventually shutting down in 2019 for good.

However, I bet you didn't know there is a secret underground swimming pool buried beneath one of the floors completely sealed off and hasn't been in use for more than 50 years.

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The Hot Springs  Broadcast Network was able to capture some incredible video footage in 2019, the last year it was opened.

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The video begins with a walk up the elegant marble staircase.

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From there it opens up to a huge marble hallway with a table draped with the Arkansas flag.

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As the walk continues you walk through the massive hallway past an artist rendering of the original hospital behind a glass showcase.

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At the end of the hallway, you will notice a huge Christmas tree.

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Finally, after several more hallways, they arrived at the Training room that was once used to train employees how to fix manual and electric wheelchairs. But it was in that room where the hidden pool was located beneath the floor.

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A winch was used to raise a portion of the floor that led down to some steps to the underground pool.

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The tiles near the end of the pool still had the words, 4 and a half inches deep printed on the tiled wall you will see in the video at the end of this story. Most people that worked in the training room in the later period were unaware there was a hidden pool just below their feet that was once used for rehab for the military. This building also had some interesting things going on on the top floor as well.

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It's sad, that such a beautiful historical building is going to waste but Federal and State Government funding would cost ten of millions of dollars to renovate, refurbish, and get it updated to standard building codes not to mention all the paperwork involved and time consumption it would take for a project like this.

The only thing we could hope for is private funding and public investors to help restore and preserve a landmark building that remains today a part of Hot Springs's history.

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