HOPE, Ark.-Former President Bill Clinton's first childhood home will reopen today, seven months after it was intentionally damaged by fire.
Part of the historic home burned on Christmas Day last year, said Tarona Armstrong, superintendent of the site. The National Park Service repaired the damage, and the staff is excited to resume tours.
"This has been a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary year. We have worked very hard to get it to reopen," Armstrong said.
Tours will start at 9 a.m. daily and continue until 4 p.m.
The house is at 117 S. Hervey St. Admission is free.
The early morning fire damaged the back of the house-parts of the exterior, pantry and second-floor bathroom.
Hope police ruled the fire arson. The National Park Service is leading the investigation, but no arrests have been made.
A reward is available for information leading to an arrest. Tips can be reported by calling 1-888-ATFFIRE. Calls can be anonymous.
While some furniture was damaged by water and soot, Armstrong said nothing was lost in the fire. Siding, drywall and wallpaper were replaced in the affected areas.
Furniture damaged with water and soot was cleaned and kept in a climate-controlled storage unit from January through this week.
Visits pick up at the house during the summer, and there has been heightened interest this year because of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Armstrong said.
President William Jefferson Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope on Aug. 19, 1946. He was named after his biological father,who was killed in an automobile accident three months prior to his birth.
Bill Clinton lived in this house for the first four years of his life with his mother and maternal grandparents.
The nonprofit Clinton Birthplace Foundation acquired the house in 1994, restored it and opened it to the public in 1997 as President Bill Clinton's First Home Museum and Exhibition Center, according to the National Park Service website. In 2011, the home was designated a National Historic Site and handed over to the National Park Service.
For more information, call 870-777-4455.