By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
WAKEENEY — Gov. Laura Kelly visited WaKeeney Wednesday to announce the community's selection to the Kansas Main Street program.
Officials in WaKeeney have already received their first round of training to promote economic vitality, design, promotion and organization in their community.
Lynelle Shubert, executive director of WaKeeney Main Street, said the community already has several projects in the works. One of these includes extending the decorative lamposts the full length of Main Street.
Cheryl Gibson, director of Trego County Economic Development, will be the president of the board for WaKeeney Main Street.
WaKeeney also plans to install public restrooms and an outdoor meeting place that includes picnic tables at the former Kelly Theatre.
A mural was being painted on the former Masonic Lodge, which is across the street from the Trego County Courthouse, on Wednesday as Kelly visited. That building has been purchased and is set to be turned into a restaurant and event center, Shubert said.
The community also will work to improve the corridor from the two WaKeeney Interstate 70 exits to downtown, she said.
Several new businesses have opened downtown in the last several years, including Kuntz Meats, The Well coffee shop and Azalea Avenue Boutique.
A new gift boutique, Eaglenest Wood and Pottery, is set open soon on Main Street.
Shubert said the community is also trying to recruit tradesmen, such as plumbers, electricians and HVAC workers. The companies that serve WaKeeney are led by people who are nearing retirement.
A group of private investors is building homes in the community, Shubert said she hopes will house a growing community.
Gov. Kelly said one of the reasons she ran for office was because communities like WaKeeney are the foundation of the culture of Kansas.
"Yet far too often, they feel neglected," she said. "That's why after taking office in 2019, my administration created the office of rural prosperity and then we hit the road."
She said a tour of the state found that downtown storefronts were vacant and businesses had been shuttered.
Her administration revived the Main Street program, which had been shut down in 2012.
Since 2019, the state has issued $2 million in grants through that program, which has promoted investment of $9 in private funds for every dollar of state investment.
"We wanted to invest in our historic downtowns to help rural communities bring back jobs and become a place where future generations wanted to live and raise their families," Kelly said.
"Today WaKeeney becomes one of those communities," she said. "It is a great achievement and one that came after a very competitive application process."
WaKeeney Mayor Irene Dirks talked about how great it was to grow up in WaKeeney as she spoke during the governor's ceremony.
She noted some of those happy memories, including the screams of laughter from kids playing night tag at the park, hanging out at the tracks after a sporting event and being able to walk to and from the swimming pool.
Trego County natives are moving back to raise their families or choosing to retire in the community, she said.
"We have all the essentials, good stores, quality health care, public safety and great schools," she said. "Some already notice and never left because WaKeeney is a community of families."
She encouraged all WaKeeney residents to leave their mark on the town's future.
"Volunteer for an existing program," Dirks said. "Instead of waiting for someone else to make WaKeeney better, get out there and find a group and do it."
Each of the four points of the Main Street mission will have committees to support WaKeeney's vision of those tenants.
Dirks played off WaKeeney's new promotional phrase, "Why not Wakeeney?"
"Why not raise a family here? Why not bring a business here? Why not retire here? Why not reinvent yourself here? Why not seize new opportunities here?" she said.
She added, "WaKeeney is a great town, but I think it is about to get better."