A demolition permit has been issued to take down the 100-year-old Goddard Hotel on Central Avenue in Hot Springs, ARK

City building official Mike Scott says the top floor of the three-story building will be taken down by hand, and after that contractors will decide how to remove the rest of the structure.

The hotel is at the intersection of Central and Quapaw avenues at the southern end of Hot Springs' commercial district. The building has been home to a number of businesses but began to fall into disrepair about 20 years ago.

The building is owned by Mary C- Mason, a doctor based in Chicago.