By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The use and preservation of Memorial Hall has once again come into the discussion by the Hutchinson City Council. Last week, the council agreed to a letter of support on a grant application that will be used to fund a study of the little-used building and how it could become a better venue in the future.
“The council has set aside about $50,000 for this grant request,” planning Director Ryan Hvitlok said. “The great part about this is we already have the money tentatively set aside in the capital improvement plan.”
Hvitlok and the Landmark’s Commission have been working for about two years ever since the council decided to address the use of the building during the 2021 budget discussion. The city currently spends about $50,000 per year on upkeep for the building. This isn’t the first time the city has addressed the future of the building. It even survived a vote of the public on a proposal to raze the facility in 2007. One thing that was brought up last week was what might need to be done to the building to make it more useful. And as City Manager Jeff Cantrell said, it won't be cheap.
“I asked Ryan to bring this in front of the governing body instead of going the administrative route on it,'' Cantrell said. “While this study is very proactive and in keeping with the historic nature of the building, I can assure you this is not going to come back and be on your road map for saving money or reducing your mill or lessening your impact on revenue.”
One of the larger hurdles that would have to be overcome to make Memorial Hall more useful is installing air conditioning, which will challenge a city council that is trying to be conservative with the budget.
“Certainly air conditioning is going to come and be one of the biggest factors that limits the use of the building,” Cantrell said. “It’s about a million-five, a million-two just for the AC of that building.”
Cantrell cautioned the council on how it moves forward with this study.
“If you do this, and I’m not saying it's a bad idea to do it, but just let it come with the expectation that even with grant support this will be quite an expensive endeavor.”
The building also falls well short of ADA compliance, which has made renovation of the building costly. Still, Hvitlok says the study is needed so the council will have some direction it may want to take if it decides to fund any improvements.
“Once we have this plan, we will have a road map of what needs to be done and then we can actually look for additional sources of funding,” Hvitlok said. “We could possibly get historical tax credits, which can help offset that cost a little bit. And there are some additional ways, but really until we do a plan, it’s going to be difficult for us to know.”
The study would also include input from city members and the city council as it progresses. No date was given for when that study could happen.
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