LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Travelers looking for an inexpensive place to stay will soon find an unusual destination in Little Rock. The city's first hostel is under construction and will house 30 guests at one of the capital city's most historic locations.
Arkansas only has two hostels in the entire state, which are supervised accommodations where guests can rent a bed, share the facilities and enjoy the city they are in at a low cost. The board of directors for this Little Rock hostel say it will provide a piece of history along with a place to stay.
It is the place that never sleeps, where firefighters drop everything at a moment's notice to serve their city and at MacArthur Park, a firehouse that served Little Rock in the early 1900's is serving the capital city once again, this time as place of rest.
What began as Little Rock Fire Company Number 2 is now being renovated into an inexpensive lodging place for travelers.
"This will be the first hostel for Little Rock. Eighteen to twenty two dollars a night and if we can keep it even lower, that would be fabulous," says Anncha Briggs, member of the Firehouse Hostel and Museum Board of Directors.
'Nice clean bed, wonderful kitchen where you can fix a meal. You can meet with people and exchange ideas and you know, you're adventures," says Briggs.
Complete with 30 bunk beds, restrooms and family room, the Firehouse Hostel and Museum at Macarthur Park will open in the fall, complete with Little Rock Fire Department memorabilia.
"We've got artifacts that have been donated to us from fire nosels, to ladders to sprinkler heads," says Greg Hart, also on the board of directors.
"This is for people who really like people who want to come and share their adventures with others," says Briggs.
The Board of Directors for the Firehouse Hostel and Museum say they have also received a lot of volunteer work from local firefighters during the construction process. The hostel's staircase was built by off duty firefighters.
The Firehouse Hostel and Museum is the only one of two known firehouses converted into hostels in the world.The second is located in Australia.