George surveys residents on economic growth

Early community hall renovation plans debut at meeting

GEORGE — Residents got their first peek at what may be the new look for the most used facility in town Monday night.

Preliminary designs for George Community Hall were on display during the "I Love George" meeting, a gathering with several points of action.

As George mayor Elliot Kooy explained in his introduction at the meeting, the purpose was to hear about plans for the hall's renovation and watch the 62-minute film "Miracle Town," about the town of Leavenworth and its transformation into a Bavarian tourist attraction town. Residents were also asked to answer a survey by the George Growth Management Steering Committee to share their opinions on what they feel their community needs.

Kooy then stepped aside because the city council and the mayor should not be involved in the process, according to George's city attorney, he explained, but would await survey results when the committee brings them before the council.

CC Consulting consultant Roxi Nanto and Saga Architects architect Dennis Brown presented the preliminary plans for the hall. Steering committee chair Debby Kooy, wife of Elliot Kooy, said a $12,500 planning-only grant was given by the Community Development Block Grant to the City of George.

Nanto said her firm was brought in to analyze the feasibility of what should be done with the hall, whether it be torn down and completely rebuilt or remodeled to make it more handicap-accessible and usable inside and outside.

"It's one of the most well-used buildings in the community, and it's a very important facility for the town of George," she said.

The hall would be more easily accessible to those in wheelchairs, and included an expanded kitchen and a cupola on top to make the building look more colonial, in keeping with an idea to make the town a colonial or American history-themed tourist attraction.

Steering committee chair Debby Kooy, wife of Elliot Kooy, said further meetings would be held with Nanto and Brown to fine tune the design.

"I'm thrilled with what they brought tonight," she said. "It's the first glimpse we have had, so I am very pleased."

Following the DVD presentation of "Miracle Town," Debby Kooy told the audience she found the Leavenworth story inspirational.

"I guess the whole point of this evening is, if it can happen there, it can happen here too," she said.

The steering committee survey included questions for residents about what they thought the city needs.

Survey participants were asked to rate the importance, on a scale of 1 to 10, of a number of issues including motels, restaurants, a reconstructed Martha's Inn, a theme ordinance to help establish city identity, a chamber of commerce, street improvement projects, a zip code of 98825 for all in the 785 telephone prefixes and city police.

Debby Kooy said she was pleased with the meeting's turnout.

"I think everybody was real interested and very motivated to do some thinking about what needs to happen here," she said, noting the committee will continue to meet and compile the surveys to get a composite picture of the general consensus.

"I think there's quite a bit of interest, I was surprised — I'm glad to see it," said resident Jeannie Kiehn. "We're right on I-90, there's lots of tourism in the area and not a lot of places for people to stay or to go, and farming is struggling. I think this would kind of pick up everybody's spirits."

Glenys Stadelman has lived in the George area since 1978 and teaches at George Elementary.

"I'd like to see the community keep going and evolving into something a little bit better, so I came to see about it," Stadelman said of the reasons she was in attendance. "I thought it was great. I loved seeing the architect's ideas for the renovation of the community hall, and the presentation on how the city of Leavenworth was started was wonderful."

"I think the town needs to also have input to find out where it needs to go," growth management committee member Les Albright said. "We're business owners here in town, and we like to know that things are going the way they should."

Longtime George resident Goldie Nolan said she would like to see George revived.

"I would like to see all the things on our survey," she said. "It needs everything."

George City Council member Mary Lynn Huntwork said she has been working on the city's beautification project since 2002. She said she would like to see George become a colonial theme town, and remembered that she would dress in a colonial outfit for her father's gas station on July 4 while growing up.

"That was fun and I hope to bring that back," she said. "Small towns shouldn't die. They shouldn't become ghost towns. They should move on, yet keep their small town excitement, camaraderie."