EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – The Elms Hotel & Spa is receiving Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Security Act funding. On Oct. 19, the City Council approved an $18,900 grant to help cover losses the facility had experienced while under lockdown because of COVID-19. “The losses far exceed this financial grant as the hotel closed their doors in late March and remained closed for more than two months,” Economic Development Director Melinda Mehaffy stated in a memo to the council and Mayor Sharon Powell. “Additionally, they have been restricted on the size of events they are able to hold at the hotel which has resulted in lost revenue.” Through three incarnations, The Elms has been a part of Excelsior Springs’ life for roughly 120 years. Its first incarnation as a wooden structure lasted from 1888 to 1898, when a fire destroyed the building, The Elms website states. Another Elms opened in 1909 and burned in 1910. The current facility – host to such dignitaries as President Harry S Truman,…