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Fourth HAAS Hall Academy Opens Up In Historic Hotel In Downtown Rogers

ROGERS (KFSM) — The newly renovated historic Lane Hotel in downtown Rogers is now home to the fourth HAAS Hall Academy location in Northwest Arkansas. Tho...

ROGERS (KFSM) -- The newly renovated historic Lane Hotel in downtown Rogers is now home to the fourth HAAS Hall Academy location in Northwest Arkansas.

Those involved said the opening of the school is an integral part of the Rogers downtown revitalization plan.

Before the school sought interest, the historic building was in jeopardy of being demolished.

"Just a few years ago, I thought this building might have to come down," Rogers mayor Greg Hines said.

Founder and superintendent Martin Schoppmeyer said the ribbon cutting for the five-story academy brings new purpose and opportunity to the hotel constructed in 1929.

"Not only is it a beautiful facility, but it's also a piece of history so we can use it in a lot of our different courses that we teach, but also it's gonna help be part of the revitalization project for downtown Rogers," Schoppmeyer said.

The academy is exactly what the mayor said was needed to further his downtown revitalization plans to bring the bricks back to life.

"Because the sustainable market for a a downtown is to have enough people in a walkable, bikeable distance, that their wants desires and needs are dictating what the storefronts say," Hines said.

The restored building also provides great historical context for students looking to connect the dots through history.

"I've learned so much about like how it was made in the Great Depression era and then it was turned into an old folks home in the sixties," said scholar Brendan Welch.

The old hotel rooms are now transformed into classrooms, which are the perfect size for the school with nearly 200 scholars.

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