Interviews

Jack Moyer ~ General Manager - 1905 Basin Park Hotel & 1886 Crescent Hotel

How did you discover Eureka Springs?

I learned of Eureka Springs when I lived in Tulsa, OK. The overwhelmingly favorable word of mouth made Eureka Springs a must visit.

What brought you here and what convinced you to relocate?

The Basin Park Hotel and its unique location and design brought me to Eureka Springs.

I chose to leave corporate hotel management and try some unique ideas that I felt would work and that in my existing environment I would not have the chance to try. Some worked and some didn't, but I stayed.

Can you give us a little background on your company? What do you do and what accomplishments are you most proud of?

The Basin Park and Crescent Hotels are two significant and recognizable landmarks for the Ozark mountain region.

More importantly our hotels ignite confidence in our city and the tourism for this region.

I am proud to say that for the first time in over 75 years we will have both hotels at full capacity for the first time this August 2002. We protect the irreplaceable at the assets and take great pride in accepting that charge.

As a business person what are the benefits you find being located in Eureka Springs? Are there any drawbacks?

When was the last time you walked into the grocery store and saw five friends that stopped and said Hi? We do it every day here.

I have the thrill of running a challenging and exciting business and the luxury of knowing that my daughter is receiving a first class education is in a small classroom, my car doors don't need to be locked and I could have walked to work if I so chose. Any drawbacks seem quite small as compared to that

If you were coming here on vacation what would your list of "must see or do" agenda include?

I really love a lot of things here. For outdoors you can take a great float trip down the Kings River, for kids the caves, dinosaur world, picnic at Leatherwood, fish, the train, the passion play, for adults spas, great dining, scuba diving at the belle of the Ozarks, two great lakes, and top notch dining.

I could spend over two weeks and do something different every day. With a little investigation you can break the norm and have a great family or romantic trip .

What would your ideal "night on the town" in Eureka Springs consist of?

There are lots of great places but you can not top the dining at the Crescent, a stroll down spring street, listening to a little music on the balcony and retiring in Jacuzzi suite at the Basin Park Hotel.

What do you think of the people that live here? How vital is the diversity of the residents to your idea "perfect community"?

I love the people here, albeit sometimes we get a little to passionate on the small stuff.

One thing is that in this community people care and with diversity there is a great chance to open your mind. It can be more challenging but it can also add to the experience.

Eureka Springs has quite a fascinating history. How important do you feel this is in today's fast paced world?

Our history is a living example of the abilities of people to adapt to an environment, change with history and readapt to a shift in ones environment.

While it provides a base of true history its constantly reminds us that we live in a world of change the positives and negatives of such an environment show their extremes on our brief history .

What does Eureka Springs mean to you?

Eureka Springs means regular challenge and good quality of life. I always wonder why others have not seen this discovery yet remain somewhat thankful that they haven't grown us past our charm .