COMMUNITY HALL

Community Center Building Committee:   Joe Cukjati, Chairman
Committee Members:  Henry Ashbacher, Norine Laird,
Community Center Committee:  Ted Wynn, Chairperson
Committee Members:  Norine Laird (Vice-Chairperson), Tammy Wayman, Veda Maxwell (Secretary-Treasurer),  Margaret Kennedy, Frances O'Blak, Alice Baldwin

See photos of the Groundbreaking Ceremony and read Joe's speech

Read what Governor Sebelius had to say about the groundbreaking

Watch the progress of the construction

Click on photos for larger image then use your "back" button to return to this page.

Planning Meeting





Taking samples for
foundation for new center
November, 2004

February 26,2005:   Ground breaking ceremony.  Read the speech prepared and given by Joe Cukjati, Building Committee Chairman and view pictures of the ceremony.

February 3, 2005:  Bid opening for new Community Center.   Joe Cukjati, building committee chairman, said that of the eight contractors contacted about the community center project, only three returned bids.  Tri-State Building and Supply Co. had the low bid of $432,782.  Plans for a 4,000-square-foot building include a conference room and a multi-purpose room with an area devoted to the community's heritage and history.

January, 2005:  Bids would be advertised starting the first week in January of 2005 and that formal bid opening would be held at the Aschbacher Building in Franklin, Kansas February  2, 2004.   FEMA Administrator Lloyd Arnold presented the building committee with a packet of requirements to present to his office on a routine basis.  Discussion was held on the requirements required by Rural Development.

December, 2004:  Discussions with the architect, Doug Corners about the bid letting was that it will be best to let the bids just after the first of the year.  There will be three weeks of advertising the bid and then a wait of three weeks before opening the bids as I understand the process.  Actual start of construction seems to be in around March first of 2005.

September, 2004:  Building committee met with the architect toview progress on the building plans.  The architect indicated he was just finishing the plans and would have them in order and biddable in a few days. 

August, 2004:  The preliminary plans are completed and were presented to the  zoning board at the August 19, 2004 meeting. The final plans were approved.  The next step in the process is approval by the county commission and rural development. Upon approval bids  for the project will be taken. Please attend the next community council meeting to see the plans for the construction.

July, 2004:  The plans for our Community Center are finally progressing along. The architect has made alterations needed when the plans were returned from The Urban Development. Soon we will be able to see building plans and to make the final decisions.

June, 2004:  Paperwork is finally reaching it’s final stages. Once again it’s “Hurry up and wait”.   We are hopeful the paperwork will all be signed and a final design can be decided upon which can then be taken to the zoning commission.

May, 2004:  The Civic Center Building Committee has been in a hurry up and wait mode now for almost one month. Waiting on various people to complete whatever so that the project could move forward. Today, hooray, the contract for Rural Development has been reviewed by our attorney Kevin Mitchelson and will be personally delivered tomorrow to Don Madison in Iola. From thence, the contract has to be approved by Don Madison's superiors. When that task is finished, the architect will busy himself on the preliminary drawings for our consideration. The Building Committee approved an Engineering survey of our Civic Center Site for a drainage plan, a grade plan and details of our parking spaces. The Building Committee is excited about seeing the preliminary drawings soon. As soon as they are complete, others interested will be notified for viewing and studying the drawings for any design suggestions. Joe Cukjati, Civic Center Building Committee Chairperson

April 22, 2004  The Crawford County Regional Zoning Board will meet at 7:00, April 22, 2004 on the ground floor, Southeast Corner, Crawford County Court House, Girard, Kansas to consider the application presented by Joe Cukjati, Building Chairperson, Franklin Civic Center.  Ron Albertini and our architect Doug Corners will be presenting along with my opening remarks.   Joe Cukjati, building chairperson, Franklin Civic Center.

March 28, 2004  This past week, we completed our zoning application with a site plan and it has been filed.  The application will be reviewed with the Regional Zoning Board at Girard.  The zoning meeting will be April 22- please make note of it and come to the meeting if you have time.  It is held at the Girard Courthouse,  bottom floor- starting at 7:00 p.m.   See you all there for support.
August 12, 2003  We received approval on the enviromental study by FEMA this past week for the community center.  We now have to get detailed drawings in order to get bids from various contractors, and submit that.   Plans for the new $231,000 Civic Center are now being drawn up, to be put on a newly purchased 2.1 acre lot at corner of 7th and Broadway, (where command center was after the storm) with projected use of the previous property at 5th and Broadway, for possible use as a park/playground, and possibly also the site of a storm shelter and siren.  We will have 210 foot frontage, and all the way west to Vine street, giving us room for a large building, expansion space, large front parking lot, and room at rear for septic system, and lawn.  The heirs of the Vignatelli Brothers have volunteered to place either a flag pole or a concrete bench with the brothers names on it at the new site of the Civic Center, in their honor.

July, 2003:  We received approval on the enviromental study by FEMA this past week.  We now have to get detailed drawings in order to get bids from various contractors, and submit that.

June, 2003:  Plans for the new $231,000 Civic Center are now being drawn up, to be put on a newly purchased 2.1 acre lot at corner of 7th and Broadway, (where command center was after the storm) with projected use of the previous property at 5th and Broadway, for possible use as a park/playground, and possibly also the site of a storm shelter and siren.  We will have 210 foot frontage, and all the way west to Vine street, giving us room for a large building, expansion space, large front parking lot, and room at rear for septic system, and lawn.  The heirs of the Vignatelli Brothers have volunteered to place either a flag pole or a concrete bench with the brothers names on it at the new site of the Civic Center, in their honor.

June 8,  2003   The Franklin Community Civic Center has plans to rebuild.  We are looking at a couple of locations, where additional land is available, as the old location does not have sufficient land for the septic system, parking lot and new larger building.  We are looking at a metal building, with a large main meeting hall, a smaller hall for many of the small community meetings, a kitchen, two ADA bathrooms, with two facilities in each, storage area, and two heating cooling systems.  Total outlay with a 75 % FEMA Grant and a 10% matching state grant, most likely will cost the community a small amount, and some of that can be in donated materials and labor, of which FEMA will offset us at rate of $9.00 per hour.  We have signed the needed application, and have 18 months after the date of June 4th to complete the project.   FEMA also stated that they are committed to new blacktop on all streets in the affected Franklin area.  The Community Center, the newly granted Water District grant, the sewer grant which is still in the application state, but which most likely will be concluded to point of beginning of construction within one year, and the work on several homes, and several in planning stages, puts the total expenditures in Franklin, at well over $2,000,000.  This has to be more than has ever been spent on infrastructure and homes in this short a period, in the history of Franklin. Franklin has a future, and the future is Franklin...............Franklin Forever..........John and Mary Ann Houck, 792 East Highway 57, Franklin, Kansas  66735, 620-347-4851

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