Event Center to undergo renovations

The Kimball Event Center is due for a makeover. City Administrator, Daniel Ortiz, is quite aware of this and took the necessary steps in order to assure a better event center for the community.

Ortiz retains a lot of different responsibilities at the city office, a couple of which are making sure buildings owned by the city are up to code and safe for community use, as well as finding ways for the city to make the necessary changes to certain buildings in order for them to be compliant with safety regulations.

Recently Ortiz applied for the Civic and Community Center Financing Fund Grant. The purpose of the funds are to, “support the development of the civic community, and recreation centers throughout Nebraska and to support projects that foster maintenance or growth of communities.” That being said, if the funds were acquired, they would be used to update the Kimball Event Center.

The max amount of funding that could be awarded through this grant is $250,000, which is the amount Ortiz was hoping for. As a strategy to obtain the funding, Ortiz hired an architecture firm, Studio 120, to do a walk through and provide an appraisal on the renovations of the event center. This type of planning allows the application to be more seriously considered.

“By having Studio 120 come out and provide us with the cost of the project as a whole, it really allowed our application to standout, it showed that we already had a plan in mind,” Ortiz said.

In the application, Ortiz explained that the event center was formerly a restaurant and bowling alley. He explained that not only are some of the renovations going to be aesthetic changes, such as colors, lighting, changing the slant of the ceiling, but also practical and essential.

“We have to update the restrooms so that they are ADA compliant. Also, when we went in there we found that the overhead sprinkler system needs replacing. This means we will have to forego some of the plans to put in advanced audio and visual equipment,” Ortiz said.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires handicap restrooms that meet specific requirements in order for a building to be operable. An overhead sprinkler system is also a requirement of the event center if it wishes to remain open for public use.

The Kimball Event Center is often the meeting place for Union Pacific Railroad, Kimball Public Schools, Kimball/Banner Chamber of Commerce, Pheasants Forever, Dead Eye Shooters Club, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Farmer’s Day Committee, Farm Credit Services, Frenchman Valley Coop, Panhandle Public Health Department, Advance Services Inc., Kimball Banner 4-H Council, University of Nebraska- Lincoln Extension, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, and Future Farmers of America. The event center also draws in some 10,000 people each year with weddings, graduation celebrations, public meetings, job recruitment events, blood drives, trainings and safety meetings, auctions, holiday parties and family reunions.

“Having all of those things going on, we have to make sure that we are compliant with certain building regulations and codes. If we aren’t if we ignore things like the ADA issues or the sprinklers and were to focus on putting in the audio visual equipment first, we could be shut down. Then no one could use that equipment and we’d be out an event center,” Ortiz said.

After getting some KENO funding in order to hire Studio 120 to draw up renovation plans and tweaking the application for the grant a few more times, Ortiz sent in the application and thankfully Kimball was selected to receive $250,000 to go toward the renovation of the event center. While the overall estimate of the project is around $900,000, Ortiz feels confident that they are off to a good start.

“I’m hoping that we can get going with the renovations possibly in winter. Of course all the plans have to go in front of the City Council once again for their approval, and once we get that then we will have a better idea of what to plan for the renovation,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz hopes to get all of the major things with the event center completed first. The layout of the building will be changed by adding bathrooms by the fitness center thus eliminating the walk across the building for those who wish to work out. Also, some areas will be opened up to accommodate larger groups. Other updates in regards to the aesthetics will also be made.

Ortiz would tentatively like to start renovating in the winter, however, the plans will be up for discussion by the city council at their May 20th meeting.