EMMIE BOESE
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Community College's amphitheater and "green space" is ready for its students, faculty and the Hutch community to use. The total budget for the project was $1.8 million according to Denny Stoecklein, director of marketing and public relations at HutchCC.
HutchCC President Dr. Carter File said Prairie Landworks Inc. took the construction fence down at the end of the 2023 fall semester in December. He said full use of the green space has been open for about a month.
"We finished the courtyard, between Lockman Hall and the Student Union," File said. "We finished what we call the green space and obviously we have the amphitheater here and we have some pickleball courts, and you know we have a great view of the stadium and it just blends in very nicely with the pond that was already here."
The constructed amphitheater and green space, is located between Lockman Hall, Speare Hall and Gowans Stadium. Tables, benches and a fully renovated space for food truck hookups have also been added since Hutch Post visited the site in September.
The "green space" also features a courtyard garden area that will be in bloom come spring and summer time. File said the garden will be taken care of by the K-State Reno County Extension Master Gardeners.
Pickleball courts which are a part of the new space, were constructed during the summer of 2023. File said the pickleball courts have been full of students lately.
"Well I think for the community and the college, I think it's nice that we were able to get this completed and replace the tennis courts that were here," File said. "You know the tennis courts were fine, they just weren't utilized very well, and there were significant maintenance costs on those so we decided that this would be a better use of this space. Not only for our college students, but also for the community at large."
File said the amphitheater hasn't been used for any community events yet and there aren't any planned at this time. However, he said he hopes that word will get out that the space is ready to use. He also mentioned the idea of having the space be a part of one of the Hutch Rec's Third Thursday events.
"You know as time proceeds, we hope that our faculty, especially our fine arts faculty, will find time to use this, to bring students out here," File said. Maybe even for practices. And then it's open to the public if somebody wants to have a public forum, they are welcome to use it."
For more information on the college, go to hutchcc.edu.
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