HUTCHINSON, Kan. — City Manager John Deardoff gave what has become the annual “State of the City” address where he lays out where things stand in the city now and the challenges moving forward.
He touched on some of the things that have been making news lately including plans for renovating the Hutchinson Sports Arena and allowing voters in April to decide if they want to increase the sales tax to pay for those renovations.
He also talked about plans for the Hutchinson Mall, working to make the Atrium Hotel and Convention Center to make it a viable site for conventions again and the never ending problem of housing in the community.
A couple of others that he also talked about include the Mervis Railcar Company coming to town which is certainly a good thing, but has led to the need to find more space for future economic development saying the two big pieces of land where Siemens is located and where Mervis Rail Car will be are now taken. Deardoff says finding additional space for more development will be a big priority this year.
Another thing in the works for this year is street improvements with 680 lane miles to maintain in Hutchinson, which Deardoff says is a big challenge to keep up on. Last year the city spent $1,700,000 on streets while this year that number climbs to $2,500.000. That work will include phase one of rebuilding of Main Street from 30th to 23rd. They’ll also restructure Waldron from 23rd to 30th and resurface 30th from Main to Waldron. These are the major projects slated for this year.
He also talked about the new bowling alley or Family Fun Center which is currently under construction. He joked of joining a bowling league, wearing one of the old style bowling shirts and using the nick-name “Johnny Strike.”
Deardoff says there are a lot of goods things coming together in the city, but admits there is much more work to be done.
The “State of City” address was held as part of the January Hutchinson / Reno County Chamber of Commerce breakfast with a packed house at the Stringer Fine Arts Center on the Hutchinson Community College campus.