The Emporia City Commission heard an appeal from local agencies on the topic of a new project in downtown Emporia during their study session Wednesday morning.
Representatives of BG Consultants and Community National Bank were in attendance to propose an appeal to a decision made by the Kansas State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) regarding the current Community National Bank Building at 701 Merchant Street. The original decision by SHPO was aimed to see the building sustained for reuse.
BG and Community National Bank are appealing for a replacement of the current building with new construction to replace the existing building. BG architect Clint Hibbs explains the need for the project.
According to Hibbs, BG found that the rebuild would be the most practical option as a remodel and relocation were found to be less feasible. Carla Barnett of Community National Bank says the new building would be designed to reflect the original look of the building and would pull inspiration from the surrounding area.
She explains the bank wants to maintain the look of the historic downtown section of Emporia.
The original building was constructed in the 1960s and has been utilized by Community National Bank since they came to Emporia in 2015. City commissioner Rob Gilligan says Community National Bank’s desire to preserve the historic look of the area is a great sign of their commitment to the community.
According to Hibbs, the entire project, if approved, would take roughly a year to complete with a 3-4 month design process and a 9-10 construction process. During that time the bank would have a temporary banking facility on site in a lot behind the current building to continue serving customers.
As this was just a discussion topic, no action has been taken on the appeal and commissioners will hold a public hearing before any decision is made.
In other business, commissioners also discussed proposed changes to city code to allow cereal malt beverage licensed retailers to begin selling enhanced cereal malt beverages which include strong beer. Strong beer is defined as beer which typically contains more than 5% alcohol.
The update in city code was necessary due to a change in state statute from two years ago which increases the level of CMB to 6%.
City commissioners also discussed the 2018 rehab list street review, reviewed the flood zone map and discussed a storm water drain off at Becker Creek.
Commissioners will next meet Wednesday Feb. 20 at 7 pm inside the municipal courtroom at White Auditorium.
