By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
With the snip from an extra-large pair of scissors, made even bigger by the future generation of Barton County residents holding them, the Barton County Courthouse HVAC Renovation Project unofficially came to a close Friday afternoon with a ribbon cutting. Commission Chair Barb Esfeld let the children in a packed rotunda of the renovated courthouse do the cutting.
Work on the project began earlier, but the Barton County Commission officially approved the renovations on Feb. 8, 2023. Year leases were secured at three area locations so the county could continue its operations uninterrupted. Esfeld thanked the many people who made the project possible.
"Our appreciation goes out to all of you who have supported our county in this effort, from our taxpayers, to our employees, to our elected officials, and our contractors, it's been a labor of love for all of us as we've worked so hard to develop our courthouse for another 100 years of service."
With some hiccups along the way, the project finished with a price tag of $5,052,684.10. The county will receive approximately $1.1 million in tax credits, bringing the final project cost under the original budget of $4.2 million. Esfeld thanked county employees who worked through the project.
"You have shown great commitment to the well-being of Barton County as you have endured two moves, catastrophic weather events, elections, a lack of restrooms, and a lack of air conditioning day in and day out," she said. "You purged over 100 years of documents and you continued to conduct business day after day for the last 11 months."
All five current commissioners thanked past commissioners for having the foresight to hold money back for potential projects like the HVAC renovation. But Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson said it was an allocation of federal dollars following the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed the current body of commissioners to move forward with the project.
"It was truly possible with an influx of federal money," he said. "This was called American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money. That was a little over $5 million that came to Barton County. Also, with the help of Great Bend Economic Development, we were able to procure tax credits. We estimate the proceeds of that to be around $1.2 million. So now we see there's about $6.2 million, and it all has a timeline. Commissioners decided to renovate the courthouse and invest the rest of the money in the local business owners on Main Street in Barton County."
Hutchinson said the elephant in the room was the actual condition of the 100-plus-year-old building. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst, Hutchinson rated the building before renovations at a nine. He acknowledged federal tax dollars are still tax dollars but said Barton County made the best use possible of those funds.
"If these tax dollars are going to go somewhere, I would rather have them go here than somewhere else," he said. "To me, that's common sense. So how do we keep it here? That was phase two of this project. With the Façade Improvement Grant Program, we invested in our downtowns, our local business owners. We required local contractors and the materials to be sourced locally. Then we chose the most local contractors possible to renovate our courthouse. This is how it should be done. When you do something, do it right. This was done right. We spent $5 million on this building, and we got a $5 million product out of it."
Three current commissioners took office just before the big vote in February. Tricia Schlessiger reflected on the momentous decision.
"That day early in my term as a commissioner, I was nervous," she said. "What was the right bold move? What was the brave move? Seeing this amazing finished product here makes certain we moved in the right direction. Thank you to all the Barton County employees, all the electeds, and all the citizens for being patient in this journey."
Duane Reif had also taken office just weeks before the decision. He, too, wondered what the right decision was at the time.
"As a newly elected official in January 2023, even though I had been attending commission meetings for several months, I knew this project was in the works," he said. "Honestly, I was a little apprehensive to know I would have to make a decision moving forward with the renovation of the courthouse and the HVAC system. Shortly after I took office and did research, I finally understood why the changes and renovations needed to be made."
Donna Zimmerman was the other new commissioner on the board. She spent 26 years in the building as the county clerk. She shared her pleasure Friday at seeing the renovated building.
"We now have climate control, improved lighting, air handling, and functioning bathrooms," she said. "Things are clean and fresh; no 100-plus years of dust. We have a beautiful, historic building with modern amenities. We mentioned how proud we are of our contractors, but what we should note is how proud our contractors are of this project."
Matt Patzner closed out the speeches with a special thanks to IT Director Dereck Hollingshead and Road and Bridge Department staff for going above and beyond during the project.
Friday's ribbon cutting and tours were attended by various representatives from state and federal offices, as well as by members of each of the communities in Barton County, project engineers, contractors, and sub-contractors, and various local civic organizations. Ellinwood's Kiley Troyer opened festivities with a singing of the National Anthem.