Garden City School may get new life as event venue
May 18—GARDEN CITY — The old school house in Garden City may yet be saved if the town council accepts a proposal by Dan Willingham and Nolan Bradford.
Appearing before the town council workshop Monday evening, Willingham said he and Bradford would like to purchase the school and land its on and renovate the building, possibly for use as an event venue.
Willingham said he and Bradford have a love of historic buildings. The school, he said, "has got a lot of ambiance about it."
The school house was built in 1932 and closed in 2015. It has stood empty since then, and in 2020, it became the property of the town through an act of the legislature.
The council toured the building last year to get a sense of its condition and weigh options. At the time, they noted that the amount of work needed was too costly. Since then, the building has continued to deteriorate.
Last month, the council voted to accept proposals for salvaging the building.
Willingham and Bradford are presenting another option, however. "I think it can be restored, but it's going to take a lot of work," said Willingham.
He said their initial plan would be to renovate the building, making sure the exterior retained the historic character on the outside while providing spaces inside for events such as weddings. He said they were also interested in adding walking trails on the property.
"You've got a great asset there," he said.
"We would want to use it to get some folks down here in your community to spend some money and see what your community is all about," said Willingham.
He said it's possible that the intended use may change as work goes on, but said, "If the community doesn't want what we want to do, we don't want it."
Councilman Butch Bradford said the council's decision would come down to what is in the best financial interest of the town, but at first glance, "It's a much better option than tearing it down."
"I can guarantee you it won't fall down when we're done with it," said Nolan Bradford. "These old buildings, we can save them."
Before going forward, council members said they would get the property appraised.
During the town's regular meeting, the council approved spending $3,000 to enclose and cooling part of an existing building as storage for the fire department's medical supplies and parking for the medical supply truck. In the summer months, the town is having to throw away medical tape and other supplies damaged by the heat. Fire Chief James Johnson estimated that the town lost about $15,000 worth of medical supplies each year due to the heat.
The council also heard complaints about Kingdom Collection putting items in front of the building that were blocking site lines and interfering with right of way maintenance. Mayor Tim Eskew said he would send the owner a letter telling him to remove anything placed in the state right of way.
The council also approved funding the annual Freedom Celebration on June 27. The event will begin at 6 p.m. and the fireworks show will begin after dark.
The council also held a public hearing Monday on applying for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for improvements to the town's sewer plant.
