The Kathy Clark Access Award
Honoring stewards who keep the healing waters open to all
Who Was Kathy Clark?
Kathy Clark (09/30/1957 - 05/02/2021) ran the Charles Motel and Bathhouse in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, for years. She was a tireless advocate for the therapeutic power of natural mineral waters, a community anchor in a town built on hot springs, and someone who understood intuitively what BANA works to articulate: that access to healing water is not a luxury. The award named in her honor recognizes that same conviction in stewards across North America.
Every year, BANA recognizes a hot spring operator, steward, or community that has gone above and beyond to ensure that natural mineral waters remain accessible — economically, physically, and spiritually — to those who need them most. This is the Kathy Clark Access Award.
How to be nominated for the Access Award?
The Kathy Clark Access Award recognizes stewards — operators, tribal custodians, park managers, or community advocates — who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to keeping natural mineral waters accessible. "Access" is understood broadly:
Economic access — Pricing, sliding scale options, community programs, or free access that ensures mineral soaking is not limited to those with means.
Physical access — Facilities that welcome people of all abilities, particularly those using soaking therapeutically or as part of medical care.
Stewardship alignment — Alignment with BANA best practices: Are pre-soak showers available and encouraged? Is there space for rest and hydration? Do operators know and share the mineral composition of their waters?
Resilience and advocacy — Standing up for access in the face of external pressure, regulation, or disaster.
Know a hot spring steward who deserves recognition?
Nominations are reviewed annually by the BANA Board and require a full board vote. The award is presented in person whenever possible.
Contact BANA at info@balneology.org to submit a nomination.
—Chris Devlin
Award Winners
2022 Inaugural Award
The Charles Motel and Bathhouse - Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Honored posthumously in the name of owner Kathy Clark, who kept the Charles open during the 2020 pandemic lockdown — providing continued access to therapeutic mineral soaking for people who depended on it for health and recovery, and doing so with a quiet, principled defiance that came to define the spirit of this award.
2023 Award
Hot Springs State Park State Bath House - Thermopolis, Wyoming
One of the world's largest hot springs, Thermopolis has upheld a treaty promise since 1896 — when the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes ceded the land with the explicit condition that the waters remain free and open to the public forever. The State Bath House honors that commitment to this day, welcoming all visitors at no cost for therapeutic soaking in waters maintained at 104°F. It is a living model of what access means at its most fundamental.
2024 Award
Big Medicine — CSKT Tribal Hot Springs - Flathead Reservation, Montana
Presented at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' District Meeting, this award recognized steward and operator Rose O'Bennick for her work preserving and providing access to tribal hot springs as a living, culturally significant healing resource. The award acknowledged both the spiritual depth of Indigenous relationships with mineral waters and the ongoing stewardship that keeps those waters available to community members.
2025 Dual Award
Pagosa Hot Springs - Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Recognized for demonstrating that a premium hot springs resort can find creative, meaningful ways to keep the healing waters economically accessible to local residents — particularly those who rely on regular soaking for medical and therapeutic benefit. Pagosa's approach proves that higher-end operations and community access are not mutually exclusive.
Hot Springs Resort and Spa - Hot Springs, North Carolina
After Hurricane Helene devastated the property, the owners rebuilt with a conscious and deliberate commitment to making their soaking spaces more accessible than before. Presented by BANA's Chris Devlin and Executive Director Marcus at the HSA conference, this award received a standing ovation — a recognition of what it means to rebuild not just a facility, but a community's relationship with its healing waters.
2026 Award
Essence of Tranquility - Safford, Arizona
For over 30 years, owner and steward Clarisse Drake has run one of Arizona's most beloved natural artesian hot mineral springs with warmth, authenticity, and unwavering dedication to the soaker's experience. Offering private and communal mineral tubs, camping, and a deeply unhurried atmosphere in the high desert outside Safford, Essence of Tranquility has remained affordable, welcoming, and true to the simple premise that healing water should be available to anyone who seeks it — not just those who can afford luxury.
The story behind the award
It began in a bathhouse in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, in the spring of 2020.
Chris Devlin, BANA's Director of Outreach and Advocacy, happened to be in T or C at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, recovering from an injury through daily therapeutic soaks at the Charles Motel and Bathhouse — a beloved, 80-year-old hot spring establishment on North Broadway. The Charles had been drawing healing seekers to the mineral-rich waters beneath the town since 1938, carrying on a tradition that stretches back to the Apache people who called this place their sacred neutral ground.
On March 19, 2020, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered New Mexico's businesses to close. The lockdown was one of the broadest in the country, and pressure mounted on every local establishment — including from other businesses in town — to shut their doors. Kathy Clark, who owned and operated the Charles, faced a hard decision.
She stayed open.
Kathy believed, as she had long said publicly, that her water was "magic" — that the 36-plus minerals dissolved in the Charles's 107–115°F thermal waters had genuine therapeutic value. For the small group of 12 to 20 "medical-type soakers" who came to the Charles daily during that period — people managing chronic conditions, seeking pain relief, undergoing what might today be recognized as balneotherapy — closing wasn't just an inconvenience. It was a health setback.
Kathy and her regulars improvised. They began taking temperatures on arrival and departure, watching to see whether the intensely hot mineral baths raised core body temperatures. The data attracted the attention of an essential-duty nurse staying nearby, who found the patterns — women experiencing a consistent temperature rise of roughly two degrees; men showing little change — intriguing enough to share with a contact at the CDC. The CDC responded in writing, calling the raw data "interesting" and encouraging Kathy to continue monitoring.
When state health officials, the state police, and the local sheriff arrived to close the last remaining "lockdown holdout," Kathy produced the CDC letter. The officials conferred, said "oh," and left without incident. It was a quiet, improbable stand — a single bathhouse operator, her water, and a handwritten temperature log — holding the line for access to healing.
Chris was floored. At the next BANA gathering, he proposed that the organization create a national access award and present the inaugural honor to the Charles Bathhouse — and to Kathy Clark personally, for her courage and conviction.
The board approved.
Before the award could be presented, Kathy passed away from cancer. True to the spirit she had shown her whole life, her family received the news with grace. Her daughter Collette — who inherited the Charles — spoke with her family and told BANA they would be honored to have the award bear Kathy's name. The first Kathy Clark Access Award was presented at the Charles in a ceremony attended by press, two town council members, hot springs community members, and friends of Kathy's. It was, as Chris described it, a touching moment.