By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
With hopes of drawing and keeping retirees in Hays, Grow Hays has formed a community task force to explore a new housing development and community center that will provide that population more reasons to live in Hays.
"Last year we had an economic development profile prepared for us by Network Kansas," said Doug Williams, executive director Grow Hays. "Basically they look at your community, tell you where your key economic drivers are, also where you might have shortfalls."
That profile identified something that would become that impetus for the new committee.
"One of the things that was a little bit surprising was that we discovered that retirees are the number economic driver in our community," Williams said. "That was really kind of surprising until you think about it a little bit."
He said with an older population in Hays and the area with a lifetime of earnings, it is no wonder that they can drive a large portion of the local economy.
Then came the realization that by increasing motivation for that population to stay or move to Hays could have a significant impact benefit could materialize.
"We got to thinking, what are we doing to only keep the retirees we have in our community but also how can we possibly attract retirees from other areas," Williams said.
Even moderate growth in the retiree population of Hays would be beneficial.
"If we could recruit 100 or 200 retirees to our community it could have a significant impact in our community," Williams said.
The regional impact could be significant as well.
"If moving from (smaller communities in western Kansas) is inevitable and in many cases it is, we want them to move here," Williams said. "We don't want them to move to Salina, Kansas City, Wichita, Denver or whenever it might be."
He said for those looking to move into an area with more services like healthcare Hays should be a good choice for those wanting to remain in western Kansas.
"Except we have some shortfalls," Williams said.
Housing and specifically retiree friendly housing is one of those concerns.
While Williams is hopeful the ongoing RHID housing project at Wheatland and 22nd will alleviate some of that need, Hays needs housing that addresses the specific needs of retirees.
Activities for that segment of the population is also an area identified that could be strengthened.
"We have the Senior Center, but that is clear out by the airport and it's a meal site, but it's hard to get to and there are issues with that," Williams said.
So the committee is looking at killing two birds with one stone by exploring the possibility of constructing some retiree friendly housing as well as a community center on 17 acres of land north of Hays Medical Center.
"We feel like that could be a terrific site," Williams said. "It is obviously adjacent to the hospital, very handy for people that want to go to a doctors appointment, or receive treatment at Hays Medical Center, we tie it into the walking trail that runs behind Hays Medical Center so there would be a nice area for a walking trail and it would all be centered around this community center."
But the development could be used for more than just a center of activity for nearby residents.
"It could be a meal site, an educational center for activities, not just for retirees, but for the whole community," Williams said.
And the housing could be anything from small apartments to garden homes.
"We try to cover all the bases," Williams said.
The location would also provide convenient access to Hays Med and the community center.
"A lot of reasons with the location of it, the tie in with Hays Medical Center it would make a lot of sense," Williams said.
He said overall they are excited about the possibilities.
"We are very early into it, but we really think it is something that would be of great benefit to our community and we are going to push hard to see if it is feasible or not," Williams said.