Vol. 6 Fall 2012
El Dorado Today
Hard Hat tour brings the collective scope of projects into focus On June 29 community members gathered to take a hard hat tour of seven major construction projects underway in El Dorado. At no other time in El Dorado’s recent history has there been so many major construction projects underway at the same time. El Dorado Inc. organized a tour of the projects for its members and other invited guests. Approximately 60 people braved 100+ degree temperatures, donning hard hats at times, to get a look at the projects which are changing the face of El Dorado. “It’s really a testament to a combination of volunteerism, a progressive community
mindset and a fertile business community, along with expertise and support from our public/private economic development effort,” said Vince Haines, principle of PKHLS Architecture and tour guide.
favorable climate for business—our location, rail service, plentiful water and a reliable workforce,” said Linda Jolly, Executive Director of El Dorado Inc., El Dorado’s public/private economic development organization.
$100 million
“El Dorado is growing. Even with Historically, building permits in in capital investment the economic downturn, we’ve El Dorado in commercial develrepresented in projects come out strong with continued opment have averaged $4.8 investment by the public and million per year. Starting in private sector,” continued Jolly. 2010, there has been a drastic increase. The total in building permits for the seven projects The projects on the Hard Hat Tour were: on the tour total $71.2 million so far. BG Products Veterans Sports Complex, “The projects that we have been working on 4,000 seat stadium and track facility which will since 2004 are now coming to fruition. serve Butler Community College, USD 490 and El Dorado has many elements that create a host community events. Opening August 31. continued on page 2
EL DORADO YMCA
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Community holds 10 year birthday anniversary
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BI-ANNUAL
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EL DORADO RAIL PORT OPEN Savage companies providing shipping solutions for area businesses
NEWSLETTER
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PROMOTING
THE
FIVE THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT EL DORADO Five facts you might not know!
NATIONAL SHOWING
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EHS forensic students make El Dorado proud at national tourneys
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COMMUNITY
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The Villas, apartment complex designed for Butler Community College student housing, built by Oxbow Development. To be open for the 2012 fall semester.
Barton Solvents wholesale chemical mixing and distribution plant with onsite rail service. Now open.
BG Products manufacturing facility, 168,000 square foot state-of-the-art
chemical manufacturing plant with on-site rail service. Projected finish date is late 2012.
El Dorado Fire Sub-station and Butler Community College Training Facility, a joint project, will enhance BCC’s fire science program and increase city fire protection coverage.
Skelly Grade School, as part of the 2010 school bond issue, this state-of-the-art
school will house 360 pre-K through 5th grade students with three classrooms per grade. Open for the 2012 fall semester.
220 Central Building, built in downtown El Dorado on the site of a burned out building, the innovative three-floor structure will house offices and upper floor apartments.
El Dorado Railport open for business
Savage Services In October 2011 Savage Companies announced the start of operations of its new multi-user El Dorado Railport just outside of El Dorado at 3050 Southwest Haverhill Road. The terminal is served by the BNSF Railway and currently provides daily rail service and car storage to HollyFrontier's El Dorado refinery. The transload facility is located along the south side of the HollyFrontier Refinery and is currently transloading crude oil. But, as a multi-commodity transload, the facility is available to all customers in Butler and surrounding counties that are interested in taking advantage of rail transport economics. For more information contact Gary Willhite at Savage Services Corporation in El Dorado 316-321-3184 www.savageservices.com
El Dorado YMCA celebrates 10 years Members gather to commemorate community asset MORE THAN TEN YEARS AGO, COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS ORGANIZED TO RAISE FUNDS FOR A NEW COMMUNITY HEALTH FACILITY. WITH HELP FROM THE CITY OF EL DORADO AND A MULTITUDE OF PRIVATE DONORS, THE 43,000 SQUARE FOOT YMCA WAS OPENED IN 2002. TODAY THE EL DORADO YMCA SERVES 50% OF THE POPULATION IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
To those volunteers who worked to make the El Dorado YMCA a reality, the facility is more than a fitness center—it is a symbol of what can happen when a community—citizens, government and organizations—pull together for positive results. Today, the Y serves nearly 8,500 members each year and hundreds of additional non-member program participants. This equates to more than 50% of the greater El Dorado region, reaching far beyond the original expectations. In addition, the El Dorado YMCA sees a total of 250,000 people walk through its doors or onto the fields of offsite Y activities each year.
Among them in the past year were participants/visitors from 24 states outside of Kansas and 159 different zip codes within the state. Approximately 140 second graders learn to swim each year through the SPLASH! Program. How many
ing daily trivia contests, free open houses each Sunday, a birthday party with cake, a goodie bag giveaway day, sidewalk chalk art contest and activities for teens and families. Culminating the celebration were two events. The first was a YMCA Block Party on July 20th in which the Y’s downtown neighbors and Y members were treated to free food and family activities. A Middle School Night at the Y followed.
have checked in at the front desk of the El Dorado YMCA in 10 years?
Over $1 million has been raised by members in the annual Strong Kids Campaign in the ten years of operation. The money goes to support kids programs such as SPLASH!, youth sports, and youth scholarships.
2,113,547
A month-long birthday celebration was planned to commemorate the milestone. Activities were planned for nearly every day in July includ-
On July 27th a celebration was held at the El Dorado facility for original donors appearing on the Wall of Champions, charter and current board members to mark the ten-year anniversary.
Five things we love about El Dorado
National Art Auction focuses spotlight on El Dorado
All is Well by John Pototschnik THIS AUCTION FEATURES APPROXIMATELY 100 WORKS BY SOME OF THE COUNTRY’S TOP CLASSIC AND
5 FACTS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW
CONTEMPORARY REPRESENTATIVE ARTISTS, INCLUDING TONY EUBANKS, BOB QUICK, JIM CLEMENTS, PETER JOHNSON, JOSEPH ORR, RALPH OBERG, PHIL STARKE AND EVA VAN RIJN
Fresh sushi at Beijing Bistro, 1905 W. Central in El Dorado. Made fresh per order, stop in on Sushi days— Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Very good!
On July 21 the national spotlight
The auction will feature up to
several hundred dollars up to
will shine on the Coutts Museum
100 high quality works by some
$20,000.
of Art in El Dorado as they hold
of the top nationally recognized
the second annual Coutts
artists in the country. To see all
Museum National Art Auction
auction offerings, visit
in El Dorado. The auction will
www.proxibid.com/coutts.
be simulcast live online, using the services of ProxiBid, as well as live at the museum.
The auction is in conjunction with PaintAmerica Association, a not-for-profit organization which provides opportunities for
All sales will benefit the museum.
artists across the country.
Estimated price ranges are from
PaintAmerica operates the
The Yellowstone Café by Reid Christie
Municipal Band summer concerts at the El Dorado Band Shell, 9th and Taylor in El Dorado. Local volunteer musicians put on free pubic concerts each Thursday at 8 p.m. through July.
PaintAmerica Top 100 National Touring Exhibit, debuting at the Coutts Museum June 5 through August 11, and the Paint the Parks National Touring Exhibit. For more information visit www.360ElDorado.com/ AttractionsandEntertainment, or contact the Coutts Museum at 316-321-1212.
Free to low cost health screenings offered by Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital. Choose from osteoporosis, blood pressure, lipid profile and others. Check the hospital’s page on 360ElDorado.com for dates.
In 2012 El Dorado High School students qualified for two national forensics tournaments. At the end of May, students traveled to Baltimore, MD to compete at the National Catholic Forensics League Grand National Tournament. EHS junior Allison McKibban finished fourth in the nation in Extemporaneous Speaking. Kristina Brown and Nick Fowler ranked in the top 50 in Policy Debate.
Funnel cakes at the Star Vu DriveIn Theater, 1010 S. Haverhill Rd. in El Dorado. The Star Vu is one of the last remaining drive-in theaters in the country, and shows quality first-run movies Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights during the season.
Free Brown Bag Programs at noon every third Tuesday at the Coutts Museum. Interesting live music, art talk or other demonstration. It’s fun! It’s free! Go!
NATIONAL SHOWING: EL DORADO FORENSIC STUDENTS SCORE BIG AT NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS
In June three EHS students competed at the National Forensic League National Tournament in Indianapolis. McKibban finished third in the nation out of 497 entries in Impromptu Speaking. She also ranked 15th out of 250 competitors in International Extemporaneous Speaking. Kristina Brown completed four rounds in Expository Speaking and Jessica McClure completed five rounds in Poetry.
To sell or not to sell... City leaders commission water study City of El Dorado administration and elected city officials commissioned a study by Black and Veatch to determine how much water from El Dorado Lake is available for sale, and the costs involved in selling the water. The study was done in two parts. Part one of the study revealed that El Dorado Lake has the capacity to sell 22 million gallons of water per day while staying within the level of 3 feet below conservation level. If the level dropped below three feet, the city would stop selling the water. The study also indicated selling this amount of water would not negatively impact wildlife or recreation at the lake. From 2007 to 2009, the lake was at or about normal pool, with approximately 164 million gallons of water a day released downstream. The second part of the study will evaluate the cost of water treatment and delivery options in order to establish a final estimate of cost per thousand gallons.
Arial shot of El Dorado Lake
EL
D ORADO
Inc.
201 E. Central P.O. Box 350 El Dorado, KS 67042 316-321-1485
FOR A COMPLETE CALENDAR OF EVENTS VISIT:
El Dorado Open Car & Bike Show Saturday, September 15, noon to 6:30 p.m. Always an attraction for car and bike enthusiasts in downtown El Dorado! A wide variety of different makes and models of all ages for all ages. The 2012 show will be a charity event benefitting the Family Life Center in El Dorado. An El Dorado Chamber of Commerce event. For complete information and current updates visit them on facebook or go to 360ElDorado.com and search El Dorado Open.