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Business, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce

Changes Coming To Downtown Fort Scott

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Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Director Lindsay Madison leads the discussions of downtown activities.

The Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Downtown Meet and Greet gathered Tuesday morning at Papa Don’s Restaurant.

The purpose of the quarterly gathering is to network and share ideas on events, promotions and anything related to downtown.

Downtown businesses and other community members tell about upcoming events and changes. The next meeting will be in October.

Following are the highlights of the meeting:

  • FS Economic Director Rachel Pruitt said the Union Block Building renovation project is progressing, in addition, there are plans for the Stout Building coming down to become a parking lot. The Union project, when completed, will provide 40 apartments and some business spaces.
  • Union Building, First and Main streets, Fort Scott.

    Stout Building, National Avenue and First Street.
  • The Buffalo Grill will have a grand opening for the River Room event center located on its second floor, Saturday, Aug. 11. The event is a week before school starts. Jared Leek is the manager of the business.

  • The Buffalo Grill was purchased in May 2018 by Al Niece.
  • Jared Leek purchased the storefronts at 14 and 16 S. Main, which will be an office for Front Door Realty, owned by Leek,  and a new bookstore, Hedgehog Inc., to open in October by Dick and Jan Hedges.

  • 14 S. Main and 16 S. Main are now owned by Jared Leek.
Repurposing of 14 S. Main has begun.
  • The City of Fort Scott has spent reserve money on development of businesses, City Manager Dave Martin said, adding “We can no longer do that.” Martin also stated he “feels good about the budget next year.
  • July 12 there will be an FS Planning Commission meeting to discuss the current city codes that don’t allow living areas on the first floor of commercially zoned buildings. It is open to the public.
  • There will be downtown outdoor movies, facilitated by Larry Gazaway on 1) July 20-Star Wars Night- people are invited to wear costumes of favorite Star War characters; 2) and August 17-Despicable Me.
  • A music group, The Whiskey Raccoons, will be at the Liberty Theater, hosted by the Bourbon County  Arts Council, Saturday, July 14.
  • Musician Ben Grace will perform at the Boiler Room Brewhaus on July 20.
  • Two art strolls by the Bourbon County Arts Council are offered on 1) July 27-which also includes a wine stroll and concert by Blane Howard and 2) September 14.
  • The Pioneer Harvest Fiesta Parade is Oct. 18; the Fiesta is Oct. 19-21 at the fairgrounds.
  • Fort Scott Holiday Open Houses are November 8 and December 13.
  • Fort Scott Veterans Weekend Celebration is November 10-11. There will be a ball at the Fort Scott National Historic Site.
  • The FS Halloween parade is Saturday, Oct. 27.
  • The FS Christmas parade is December 4.
  • The Homes for the Holiday Tours and Fort Scott National Historic Site’s Candlelight Tour will be Dec. 7-9.
  • Horse-drawn carriage rides will be offered Saturday, Dec. 15, starting at Cheney-Witt Funeral Chapel.
  • Becky Snelson provides nurse massage therapy from Suite 202 of the Shiney Studios, 123 National Avenue and is offering a massage special of $10 off any service in July, she said. She can be contacted at 913-424-8863.
  • Art In the Yard, a new artists event, is September 15 at Bobbi Kemna’s, 1366 215th Street, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Over 20 artists are scheduled to present their wares, Kemna said. She is on Facebook.
  • Gary Palmer can make coupons for businesses to include in trolley tickets envelopes for tourists.
  • The downtown directory sign, on the north end of Main Street, is $100 per year, renewable in July and is available for promoting a business.
  • The Bike-Share Program is providing 10 yellow bikes for residents and visitors for free. Several bikes are located at the Chamber office, 213 E. Wall; Fort Scott Community College-2108 S. Horton; Nate’s Place Restaurant-750 S. National; Peerless Products, 2403 S. Main. Participants must sign a waiver and show a drivers license. If under 18 years old, a parent must be present when the waiver is signed.
  • The Timken Foundation has $55,000 in grants to give away to non-profits according to Lindsay Madison, Chamber director. Grants are given in arts and culture, civic and community, education, health and hospitals, human services and recreation categories.
  • A new ranger has been hired and will be at the Fort Scott National Historic Site (FSNHS) on July 27. His name is Carl Brenner.
  • FSNHS offers Trail Blazer Camps each summer for youth 9-13 years old.
  • July 31 there will be a candidate forum at the Fort Scott High School auditorium. Questions should be submitted to the Chamber before the forum.
  • Craw-Kan Telephone Cooperative is constructing fiber optics in Fort Scott and plans to connect in the fall. Craw-Kan will be hosting the Chamber coffee on August 9 and needs to partner with a Chamber member to use their space that morning, since the business does not have an office in the city.
  • There were 100 riders who participated in the Marmaton Massacre Mountain Bike Race at Gunn Park over the weekend. Promotion is needed to promote the bike/hike trails as a year-round activity, Chad Cosens said.
  • Riverfront Park is beginning construction of an overlook of the Marmaton River and Mill Creek, to be completed this fall.
  • Gary Palmer offers printing services for flyers, posters, coupons, etc., with a designer on staff.
  • Smallville Crossfit is offering a lifting competition in the fall.
Business, Fort Scott

It’s REALLY Cool: Tropical Joe’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice Comes to Fort Scott

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On July 6, Joe Pauly opened his  Tropical Joe’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice business in the parking lot of Family Video on South National Avenue.

“I started the company for two reasons,” Pauly told FortScott.Biz. “I loved shaved ice, it’s so good and such a fun business where you get to put smiles on faces. And reason two is I have six children, the oldest being 11. My hope is that someday this will be their summer job to teach them about work, business, communication and how to serve people.”

Pauly lives in Pittsburg and wanted to open his first store there.

“However, there is already an established shaved ice business there and my supplier said ‘Why not Fort Scott?’,” Pauly said.  “He had a shaved ice business there for years, Tad’s Shaved Ice, and said it was a great town that supported the business.”

Pauly listened to the advice and went to where the demand was.

“It’s been great,” he said. “The people of Fort Scott love their shaved ice and I am glad to be able to bring it back to them.”

Joe’s Tropical Ice employee, Mariam Mix, waits on a customer Monday afternoon.

Many people have thanked him for putting the business in Fort Scott.

“Some said they had been driving to Nevada and Pittsburg for shaved ice,” Pauly said.

Customers purchase some shaved ice Monday afternoon.

Pauly plans to remain open through September, he estimated.

The business is open seven days a week from 2 to 10  p.m. and is located at the corner of 18th Street and National Avenue in the Family Video parking lot.

The many flavors of Tropical Joe’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice.
More flavors and the pricing of the product.
Area News

Mountain Bike Racing In Gunn Park

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Frank Halsey, the mountain bike race organizer, puts a medal on a finalist Saturday evening at Gunn Park.

Although Kansas does not have mountains, it does have some pretty hills in Gunn Park that were used to test the skills of mountain bikers this past weekend.

The 5th Annual Marmaton Massacre Mountain Bike Race and Kansas Mountain Bike Championship were completed in Gunn Park July 7-8.

Friday and Saturday evenings a night ride through the park was offered by organizers, Gunn Park Trails Volunteers, who work on maintaining the trails year- round.

Saturday morning two competitions took place: the Maramaton Massacre Mountain Bike Race and the Kansas Mountain Bike Championship. Racers won in their age divisions with the youngest race for children eight years old and younger, which took place in the evening.

Dinner was provided participants courtesy of Healthy Bourbon County Action Team through the Pathways To a Healthy Kansas Initiative and the food was provided by Sharkey’s Pub and Grub.

The trials riding demonstration  Ryan Braxton and Ed Schilling entertained the attendees. Trials riding skills are bike handling skills developed over obstacles.

The skills demo was followed by a performance from Paul Fowler and Lezlee Herd of En Power and Light music group, with the background of Gunn Parks Second Lake.

Sunday morning following a church service, a ride for youth 15-18 years old was won by Fort Scottian Brian Griffin.

Winners of both the Marmaton Massacre Race and the Kansas Championship Race are shown in the gallery below:


Kid’s Race Winners – 8 and Under, from left: · 3rd Place – Easton Halsey – Fort Scott, KS, · 1st Place – Memphis Halsey – Frontenac, KS;· 2nd Place – Gavin Cramb – Wichita, KS.

Kid’s Race Winners – 9 – 10 Years Old, from left:· 3rd Place – Audrey Walker – Fort Scott, KS· 1st Place – Jacee Mattox – Moran, KS · 2nd Place – Lillian Jackson – Fort Scott, KS
Frank Halsey, event organizer, hugs his grandson, Memphis Halsey, Frontenac, following a first place win in the kids’ under eight-years-old mountain bike race.
Attendees visit as they watch Ryan Braxton, Bentonville, Ark. perform a demonstration of trials riding.
Ed Schilling, St. Joe, Mo. demos trials riding on a Fort Scott Bike-Share Bike brought to the park by the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team. The bike was for attendees to try out. The bike-share bikes are located around Fort Scott for public use. Schilling encouraged biking as a lifetime sport.
The kid’s mountain bike race was in the evening of July 7 at Gunn Park.
Jody Hoener, Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, tells the crowd of the purpose of the team. HBCAT provided the meal for the riders and brought a bike-share bike to the event to have attendees try out. Greg Schroeder, left, the announcer, listens and Lezlee Herd and Paul Fowler, husband and wife performers with the En Power and Light wait to sing following the announcements.
Families appeared to relax and enjoy the evening entertainment of En Power and Light at Gunn Park, on July 7.

 

Airport, Fort Scott, Government

Airport Receives Two Grants To Update

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Fort Scott Airport runway.

In June, the Fort Scott City Commission approved a Kansas Department of Transportation grant in the amount of $109,600 for the Automated Weather Observation Station upgrades at the airport with the city match of $12,118.

Fort Scott Economic Development Director Rachel Pruitt, along with Fort Scott Airport Director Kenny Howard informed the commission that the city received this and another grant from K.D.O.T.

Howard stated that the A.W.O.S. upgrade is badly needed at the Airport as the current system is about 19 years old, according to the meeting minutes.

“The A.W.O.S. is the on-field reporter of weather, visibility, etc.,” Howard said.

Fort Scott Airport Office.

The other grant received from K.D.O.T. is for lighting the runway, Howard said.

The PAPI (Precision Approach Path Indicators) and REIL (Runway End Identifier Lights) Grant from KDOT is for runway lighting at the airport in the amount of $177,462. The city match for the grant is $19,718.

The commission discussed the airport 2,100-foot runway extension and how this lighting would be affected, according to the minutes.

Kenny stated that the grant can be delayed if the runway extension occurs within the next two years.

“We are waiting for more grant money for the extension,” Howard said.”The design for the runway extension is not completed yet.”

Pruitt stated that she is applying for another grant for the extension July.

The office and pilots lounge of the Fort Scott Airport.

Area News, Business

Business/Government Collaborations Benefit Work-From-Home Residents

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The New Wave Broadband antenna sits atop the water tower at Ninth and Burke streets, as viewed from the pickleball court.

Collaborations between business and government create opportunities for workers to be able to computer work from home in rural areas.

New Wave Broadband, LaHarpe, is one of those businesses.

New Wave Broadband has collaborated with the City of Fort Scott and Consolidated Rural Water District #2 to put broadband antennas on top of water towers to transmit from.

That allows employees to work from home, on their computer.

There is a New Wave antenna on towers four miles west of Fort Scott and also eight miles west at Redfield; east of Fort Scott on 260th and Kansas roads; and there is one coming to a rural area knows as Porterville, southwest of Fort Scott.

In town, there are New Wave antennas on top of towers south of the hospital, at the water treatment plant at Ninth and Burke streets, and at the middle school.

Mercy Hospital gets internet provided from the same company that New Wave does and “We share a communications closet,” David Lee said. “We have separate equipment.”

New Wave Broadband has its beginnings in the La Harpe Telephone Company, according to its’ website http://newwavebb.com

Joyce and Harry Lee, the owners, raised their family in La Harpe, and the family still operates the company today.

La Harpe Telephone was one of the owners of Kansas Cellular, which was sold in 1999 to Alltel.

Today, they are one of the 29 owners of Kansas Fiber Network, a communication system that delivers broadband connectivity to rural Kansas.

“Some people can work from home now, that couldn’t,” David Lee, son of Harry and Joyce Lee, said.

David Lee negotiates contracts and does installations for the business and “everything in between,” he said.

Lucretia Simpson, Marie Guss, and Jillian McAdams are some New Wave customers who work from home on computers, 8-12 hours a day, from a rural location.

Simpson and McAdams live just south of the Fort Scott city limits, Guss lives east of Fort Scott.

Simpson had a satellite set-up prior to New Wave, two years ago.

“After you used it so much, the company slowed it down,” she said.

Now she can work all day and still have data available to enjoy movies with her family, Simpson said.

Simpson paid for a wireless router.

“Our phone, tv, tablets are wireless, except my computer for work. It’s plugged in,” she said.

Guss switched companies “because it was accessible and they have faster internet speeds than where we had.” she said. “We were looking for download speeds so I could produce more at my job.”

The prior company would lose their signal frequently and take one to four hours to get it corrected, she said.

“I would have to work later in the day when the internet came back up,” Guss said.

Since signing onto New Wave in October 2017, the internet has not been working twice “and two hours at the most.” she said.

“David Lee is very good to respond and give an estimated time when it will be back up.”

McAdams moved to her current location about a year ago and tried another company. Weather conditions caused the internet go down, she said.

She then purchased a router from New Wave.

“We hard wired it into my computer and the phones are connected wirelessly,” McAdams said.

“New Wave has the best customer service I’ve ever had,” she said.

 

 

Fort Scott

One Extraordinary Neighborhood Party

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The Burke Street residents know how to throw a good party.

Following their annual 4th of July Parade, the group offers cookies and drinks to the visitors, then later they pull together a potluck for their neighborhood and friends.

Deb Halsey, who with husband, Frank, hosted the Burke Street Parade reception, hands out drinks along with cookies from a tent set up on their front lawn.
The Frank Carlson family remain in their parade viewing seats following the parade and converse with passersby on Burke Street.
Bob Masters, left, waits for a hot dog to be served by Shane Walker, right and John Kerr, background facing away. Hot dogs and brats plus a potluck meal were served to residents and friends following the 4th of July Burke Street Parade.
Kendra and Heather Bahr give rides on their horses following the parade. The two girls were in the Burke Street 4th of July Parade.
Youngsters enjoy the empty Burke Street following the parade on July 4th.
Area News, Entertainment, Fort Scott

July 7: Family Fun at Gunn Park

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Fort Scottians are invited to join in the fun and entertainment Saturday, July 7 for a local mountain bike race, that this year includes the Kansas championship race and live music in the evening.

“The 5th Annual Marmaton Massacre Festival / Kansas State Mountain Bike Championship starts Saturday at noon with our Marathon Race, a 4-hour endurance event,” Frank Halsey, who originated the race several years ago, said. ” At about 6:30 pm, the Kid’s Race is free and open to kids 10 and under.  This race is not on the trails, rather we cut a trail out in the open field, to avoid the exposure of wooded trail riding.”

The volunteers at Gunn Park Trails, as part of the Marmaton Massacre Festival, would like to invite the public to the shade of Gunn Park on Saturday, July 7, for the evening of free entertainment, according to a press release from the volunteers.

The 10 years of age under Kid’s Mountain Bike Race will begin about 6:30 pm, followed by a  performance of balance and agility, by Ryan Braxton and Ed Schilling on their trials bike.

“A free concert will follow by Paul and Leslie from En Power & Light. They’re really good!” according to the release.

Bring your lawn chairs and coolers and take advantage of this relaxing evening in the park.

“It’s free, and we’d love to see you there!”

Government, Kansas

Rescuing The Vulnerable From a Vehicle

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On a 90-degree day, the interior of a parked car can soar to over 115 degrees within 15 minutes, according to a press release from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Cracking a window has been proven to not help

As of July 1 people who see people or animals who have been left locked unattended in parked cars and try to rescue them, will be given protection from lawsuits.

“If someone see’s a child or animal in a locked vehicle, and that person believes that they are in danger, they can break a window to help that animal or child without fear of being liable for the damages or for being prosecuted,” Kansas Senator Richard Hilderbrand told FortScott.Biz.

The law was signed by the governor in April and became effective, Sunday, July 1.

House Bill 2516 provides immunity from civil liability for damage to a motor vehicle for a person who enters the vehicle, by force or otherwise, to remove a vulnerable person or domestic animal if they are in imminent danger.

The following is a press release from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment:

On average, 37 children and over three dozen animals die in a hot car each year in the United States. Hot car-related injuries and deaths are 100 percent predictable and 100 percent preventable.

The Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF) of Kansas, KidsAndCars.org and Safe Kids Kansas (sponsored in part by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment) joined together on Monday, June 25, to discuss the new law that goes into Sunday, July 1. It passed during the 2018 Legislative session. The Hot Cars Law gives good Samaritans in Kansas the legal right (under certain conditions) to break a window to help a vulnerable person or animal trapped inside a hot car.

On a 90-degree day, the interior of a parked car can soar to over 115 degrees within 15 minutes. Cracking a window has been proven to not help.

Experts say the most dangerous mistake a parent or animal owner can make is to assume leaving a child or animal alone in a parked car is a safe option, even for just a few minutes.

Already this year, there have been 18 confirmed child deaths in hot cars. A child’s body can overheat three to five times faster than an adult’s, and since animals cannot sweat the way we do, they are unable to regulate their internal body temperature as effectively.

An animal or child can sustain brain damage, organ damage or failure and death from a vehicular heatstroke within minutes of being trapped.

The new law will empower the Kansas community to act fast and safely to help rescue a vulnerable person or animal trapped in a hot car.

Before you can exercise your right to intervene, the following must be checked:

  • Is the car locked?
  • Is the person or animal suffering in imminent danger?
  • Have you notified local law enforcement?
  • Are you using reasonable force to break entry?
  • Can you remain with the person or animal until law enforcement arrives?
  • Is the animal in question domestic? This law does not apply to livestock animals.

Kansas joins 21 other states who protect good Samaritans from legal retribution for assisting people or animals in imminent danger when trapped in a hot car.

For further information, please contact KidsAndCars.org: Amber Rollins, 913-732-2792, [email protected]; or HSLF of Kansas: Miranda Pratt, 417-294-4048, [email protected].

 

Bourbon County

Bourbon County Garden Club Hosts Chamber Coffee

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Bourbon County Garden Club, 2018. From left, front row: Barb McCord, Martha Scott, Priscilla Sellers and Karen Billiard. Back row: Rosemary Harris, Sheryl Bloomfield, Janet Irvin, Doris Ericson and Jim Logan.

The Bourbon County Garden Club hosted the weekly Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce coffee June 28 at the Heritage Park Pavilion on Main Street.

The club maintains the plants in Heritage Park, Skubitz Plaza, the hanging baskets on Main Street and the flower bed at the swimming pool,  Martha Scott, a member told the attendees.

They also provide a service to the community by answering gardening questions for the public.

“We are happy to make Fort Scott look pretty,” Scott said.

“We are looking for volunteers to help us weed,”  she said.

Garden club member Barb McCord told the attendees that they are looking for gardens for the annual garden tour for 2019.

There will be no weekly Chamber coffee next week.

For more information on the club: Sheryl Bloomfield, 620-215-4313, Deb Lust, email [email protected]  or  Rosemary Harris, rharris@usd234. org

Below are photos of attendees during the coffee.

Bourbon County, Government

County Road And Courthouse Improvements

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Bourbon County Road Crews completed the new asphalt on Maple Road just east of 95th Road recently.

Bourbon County Road Crews have been busy this spring and summer laying asphalt on prioritized road, filling in the potholes and otherimprovements to the county’s roads.

“We took a new approach on how to repair roads,” Bourbon County District 1 Commissioner Lynne Oharah said. “It’s a leveling course, 1.5-inch asphalt. If you have a decent base, then you go back and do a chip and seal a few years later.”

“We get 6.5 miles, about $30,000 a mile using this technique as opposed to a 3.5-inch overlay, which costs between $80,000 to $95,000 per mile to overlay,” Oharah said. “I’m excited the way it’s turned out. We’ve come up with a new tactic to save money on roads and cover more miles.”

The new leveling course tactic was used three years ago in Oharah’s district, in the area just west of Uniontown on Maple Road to 85th Road. The asphalt has now been put on Maple Road all the way to Fort Scott, a road that runs parallel to U.S. Hwy. 54.

Next year, if all goes according to his plan, Maple Road to 85th will be chipped and sealed, Oharah said.

“If money permits, we’ll do more,” Oharah said.

Other recent completed asphalt projects have been the west side of Lake Fort Scott, which was completed yesterday, he said.

Then a short piece of 205th Road off of U.S. 54 Hwy.  to Native Road will be completed today with asphalt overlay.

One and one-fourth miles on Eagle Road completed a few weeks ago, was given a 3.5-inch overlay, he said.

“Before that Native Road past the landfill a mile and a quarter, a 2-inch overlay was done on that, completed in April,” Oharah said.

The next big project that Oharah hopes to accomplish is 125th Road south of Mapleton for three to six miles, he said.

“Then I’ll start doing chip and seal on 125th between Hwy. 54 and Maple Road and also west of Uniontown to 85th,” Oharah said.

In addition, the county road crews will start working on low water crossings that near repair.

Three low water crossings have been closed in Bourbon County:

  • Range Road at 265th Road. “We’re going to have to replace that,” Oharah said.
  • Northeast of 65 Hwy., on 75th. “We are going to fill in the void under the crossing with rock and concrete,” Oharah said.
  • North of Unity Road on 95th. “We’ll repair it by pouring more concrete, boxing at the end of the culvert,” Oharah said.

Another low water crossing is in need of repair on  115th Road north of Range Road, he said.

Work will begin on these crossings in July, Oharah said.

Changes in the courthouse

The commissioners will soon be moving their workspace and public meeting room in the Bourbon County Courthouse, to make it more accessible to the public.

“I’m really excited about moving forward with moving everything on the second floor…to the first floor”, Oharah said.

The move is a result of the new law enforcement center completion and then the sheriff’s department and jail vacating the north side of the courthouse.

He said the move looks like it will be “very affordable.”

“We are working to have it done by the last part of September,” Oharah said.

“People have trouble getting to the second floor, this will make it convenient for them,” he said.

The county clerk, treasurer, and the commission room, every office on the second floor, will all be moved from the second to the first floor. He is hoping the driver’s license bureau will also be moved to the first floor, he said.

The second floor will then be the county attorney’s office.

“That increases the security of the second and third floors,” Oharah said.

 

 

 

 

Fort Scott

Lowell Milken Fellows Given Key To The City

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From left front row: Nikos Giannopoulos, Lauren Jensen, Katie Craven. Back row: Dave Martin, Penny Heath, Paula Franklin, Thomas Dennison and Jolynne Mitchell.

 

The Lowell Milken Center (LMC) for Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott, Kansas has awarded its Fellowship to 12 educators this year.

This week six fellows were given the key to the city by Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin and Mayor Jolynne Mitchell. Last week also six fellows were honored in this way.

The Lowell Milken Center For Unsung Heroes, located at Wall and Main in downtown Fort Scott, has been a part of the renewing of the downtown area, Dave Martin told the LMC Fellows in welcoming them to the city.

The Fellows were presented with a key to Fort Scott and a welcome bag.

This week Lauren Jensen from Virginia, Penny Harth from Oklahoma, Katie Craven from Minnesota, Paula Franklin from Tennessee, Thomas Dennison and Nikos Giannopoulos were the Fellows that came to Fort Scott.

The Center selects model teachers from across America and Europe, drawn from a variety of disciplines, to collaborate on projects that discover, develop, and communicate the stories of Unsung Heroes in history, according to a press release from the center.

See the center’s Facebook page at

Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes

Norm Conard, far right, introduces Dave Martin and Jolynne Mitchell to the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes Fellows and staff Tuesday morning at Fort Scott City Hall.

 

 

Business, Fort Scott

New Life To Condemned Building

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A renovation has begun on the Hole in the Wall Liquor Store project at Wall and Scott streets.

The building at the corner of Scott and Wall streets has seen better days.

But with the purchase of the property formerly known as the “The Spoiled Brat” building, there will be new activity. Spoiled Brat was the name of the beauty salon that was located there years ago.

Roy and Jody Hoener own the property now.

The Hoener’s envision this to be breathing new life into a previously condemned structure that sits at a gateway to Fort Scott.

The Hoener’s own The Hole In the Wall Liquor Store, currently located at 13 W. Oak.

The business has been in the family for three generations, Roy Hoener said.

“My grandpa, Roy Louderman, bought the business in 1985,” Roy said. “My mother, Connie Hoener, bought the one-half interest in 2005. In 2015 Jody and I took it over from my mom when she retired.”

But come October they are hoping to be moved to the new site at 124 E. Wall, Jody Hoener said.

“We are doing pretty good on the timeline,” Roy said.

Over the next month’s several local businesses will be helping the Hoeners transform the once blighted and deteriorating building into the store and in addition, apartments on the second floor.

The liquor store will be 24 by 84 foot in dimensions, Roy said, with the apartment space above having the same dimensions.

“We are trying for two apartments,” Roy said. “That will be down the road.”

Behind, to the south of the store, will be an event space,  Roy said.

“It will be for wine tastings, etc.,” he said

Those businesses hired by the Hoeners are Hofer and Hofer and Associates Inc.-general contractor, Agricultural Engineering Associates-structural engineers overseeing the entire project, RII Concrete Construction LLC-steel work outside, Geiger Plumbing-plumbing, KTK Electric LLC-HVAC and new wiring and lights, Great Expectations LLC Restoration Company—inside floor joists, Murphy Roofing-roof,  Kirby’s Cabinets-counter and display, Miles Woodworking-shelving, and Perry Cannon-interior painting.

Contact info for the public is Facebook: Hole in The Wall Liquor;  or on the web: http://hole-in-the-wall-liquor.business.site/ or by phone: 620-215-0016.