By the end of next year, the longtime home of the Emporia Gazette may well have a new use — or uses.
Tentative plans are to have at least part of a new development open to the community at 517 Merchant by the end of 2024, and building owners Rick and Colleen Mitchell and project partner Sarah Eimer outlined their plans during a special presentation at Red Rocks State Historic Site on Sunday. Eimer says she’s drawn to the restaurant idea specifically and the ability to bring people to Emporia in general.
The Mitchells bought the building 20 months ago, and Rick Mitchell says the design stage is nearing the end.
Colleen Mitchell says a staggered start may well be how things unfold.
After noted publisher William Allen White purchased the Emporia Gazette in 1895, the building at 517 Merchant saw use as a newspaper for over 100 years until digital technology adjusted the need for space.
Besides the restaurant, the plan is to have office space for Mitchell-Markowitz Construction, five “luxury residential units,” two short-term visitor rental units and an artist-in-residence studio.
