ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

There could be some big changes coming to the downtown area of Liberal after some discussions by the Liberal City Commission at a work session Tuesday afternoon.

The discussion began with City Manager Scarlette Diseker sharing some good news to the commission.

“Until recently, I was only hopeful for this day and to be able to make this announcement. Last week, we did officially receive notification from the Kansas Department of Commerce we had been awarded a $500,000 block grant,” Diseker said. “A lot of other communities also applied, and I was extremely hopeful we would ultimately get the grant, and now we have confirmation. However, the real stress begins because there is a lot that needs to be discussed between now and December because this project needs to happen on time and within budget. As you know, this is an opportunity for us to improve multiple storefronts in the downtown area, which has been needed for a while.”

Chief Communications Officer Keeley Young then gave some history on the project.

“The initial idea came about in earlier discussions at a stakeholder roundtable with other downtown business owners about redevelopment,” Young said. “The idea was thrown out when we were talking about what to do for an outdoor entertainment venue/event space that would draw people to the area. Discussions kind of evolved from there in terms of what would actually be feasible, and then this grant opportunity came up. We took a look at it, and it really closely matched what we were looking for and even a little more because it allows the financial opportunity to upgrade the façade of three other buildings as well. We help that transformation will help attract tenants to those buildings because long-term vacancies aren’t ideal. This is a great opportunity for the city to bring in as much grant funding as possible, and we’re very grateful. This will be broken up into those façade upgrades and the proposed green space, so it’s two separate projects. With the grant, the state wants to see a quick turnaround and transformation, and we are allowed to do demolition in that area for the green space as well as with the façades of the buildings we’ll be working with. That will allow us to create a better scope of exactly what façade improvements we’ll be making based off of what we find when we really get in there. This will also allow us to have a good working space – once the courtyard is demolished, the contractors will be able to work out of that space, and we’ve already discussed the construction timeline and all of that.”

And that is not all, Young said.

“We feel like the façade improvements will take up most of that period of time, so we’ve got several contractors we’re working with – we’re really bringing just about everyone to the table,” Young said. “At this point, we’re at the phase where we need to immediately get a few aspects squared away so we can start doing some of that demolition, and then after Thanksgiving is when the actual construction and all of that work will be going on. The façades have to be completed by Dec. 15, and they understand our green space is something that will carry over after the project. We’re going to essentially have a clean slate to be able to start. One of the parts of the projects is to work with Hutton on a design concept as well as an estimate of the costs so that, by mid-December, we’ll know what we’re creating specifically and a rough cost estimate so we can start putting that together in 2027. We feel there are a lot of great opportunities to work with local workers and foundations and other grants to help.”

Young then talked about the timing standpoint of the project.

“In terms of timing, there are a few aspects we’ll be able to push through a little quicker than expected, but we do plan to have the design work confirmed by the end of October and start pulling away some of the façade stuff so we can get a good idea of what we’re working with underneath,” Young said. “The main thing is for us to be able to secure our materials and supplies before Thanksgiving so we can have everything on site. We’ll work with the Building Department on the permits and all those necessities as soon as possible. It’ll be around Nov. 15 when we’ll have that final schedule confirmed before accepting the materials. Nov. 30 is when we’ll start the 14-day project. We know there will be attention around that, especially media attention, because this is such a unique project and a great opportunity to help with redeveloping the downtown area. When everything gets started, there will be some traffic issues to be dealt with by the community, but it will be clear in a relatively short period of time.”

Diseker then talked about conversations that had happened with the owners  of the buildings that will be receiving the façade upgrades.

“The buildings are owned by Alan and Jolene Brown, and all of the necessary conversations have taken place. All of the potential buyers have expressed excitement about the project, and we welcome their involvement in everything,” Diseker said.

“Something else that was talked about was the façade and what’s underneath and what kind of shape everything is in,” Young added. “We’re hoping everything is relatively solid, which could save a bit of money. We also want some cohesiveness with the façade improvements and the green space because we feel like there should be some harmony when it comes to that. Everyone we’ve talked to seems to be really excited and really positive about what we want to do with all of this.”

The conversation then moved to the proposed outdoor green space.

“The name we’re proposing is The Rail Yard, which I have to give Keeley credit for, and it’s a great ode to our downtown beginnings that centered around the railroad and Rock Island Depot,” Diseker said.

“And we want to pack a lot into this space,” Young added. “We wanted to have an area where we could host some live music outdoors and maybe announce parades from instead of lugging the portable stage in and out whenever necessary. We think it’ll also be a great area for an outdoor market or maybe a food cookoff  – anything special going on, we want this new space to be considered. With the stage, we wanted to be sure it’s moveable because we don’t want anything blocking that entrance from that alleyway. During our discussions with Hutton, we did mention we wanted the stage to be moveable, though we couldn’t say exactly what we wanted that to look like. We would be able to position everything how we want/need, and there will also be some artificial turf there to soften things up and make the space really functional. I think this will draw a lot of people in, and I think it’ll look great after everything is done.”

Seward County Development Corporation Executive Director Eli Svaty also expressed praise for the grant funding.

“As much as I would love to say this was Keeley and I’s work, this happened because of the efforts of the Liberal City Commission these past few years when it’s come to being present in Topeka and being recognized as a city of action,” Svaty said. “Making those trips, attending those meetings and having those conversations has put us on the map, and that definitely made a huge difference when we applied. I think we need to keep up with that work, and the state notices when a community is truly engaged and working and active. This has been a long time coming, and we’ve seen this type of money go to our sister cities, so it’s great to see us being active and working so hard.”