A Familiar Hutchinson Conundrum

Most recent Memorial Hall debate forces examination of community's tendencies

I’m on record as a pretty big cheerleader and support of all things Hutchinson. I love this community and many of you are like family to me.

But like any family, we have to be honest about some of our less glamorous truths. We can’t change and grow if we’re not willing to call out some of the bad habits that seem to keep causing us trouble in life.

I have long thought that Hutchinson suffers from an identity crisis. We don’t seem to know quite what we want to be when we grow up, and so, we’re trying be a little bit of everything in what sometimes feels like an effort to keep everyone if not happy, at least quiet.

We’re not quite an industrial town, a giant retail center, a college town, a regional art, theater, or musical draw, or a hub of high dollar tourism. We have fun places to hang out and grab a drink, but we’re not known for our exciting night life. We have good doctors and healthcare facilities, but we’re not the place people travel cross country for a highly specialized surgery. We have always really wanted a top-notch convention center, but we’ve never really been a premier destination for large gatherings. We love our sports, and have some nice complexes and tournaments, but not enough to build an economy, or an identity, around a steady stream of popular sporting events.

We are, however, a bit of all of those things.

We just haven’t really leaned fully into finding our identity. We seem to struggle with letting go of the past so we can move on with our lives. And much like the world of dating, living in the past and not really knowing ourselves has sometimes led us to pursue relationships that aren’t very good for us, and at times even flirt around with our toxic ex.

I’m looking at you, Atrium.

That seems to be the case with the question of what should be done with Memorial Hall, which is another pressing issue created by a few of Hutchinson’s chronically bad habits: Procrastination and penny-pinching.

There’s a meeting on May 8. Please attend if you have thoughts or questions

---

In 2025, the Hutchinson City Council is again facing the Albatross of whether to demolish or renovate Memorial Hall because the Hutchinson City Council, and voters, of 1996 decided to not make a decision at all - instead kicking the can down the road for another generation to deal with.

In 1994, the city council voted to tear down Memorial hall, citing expenses to update the building to make it a functional venue, comply with ADA regulations. They had a temporary change of heart, voting to take a year to figure out what to do.

A petition to save the building began to circulate, and it gathered enough signatures to force a vote on the matter - outlining that the city would spend no more than $750,000 to make the building ADA complaint, remove asbestos, and install a fire alarm system. The vote passed 8,300 to 2,529.

Memorial Hall was spared, but not made terribly more usable as a venue.

There was another vote in August 1996 that tied funding for Memorial Hall to some city funds for the Fox Theater. That question failed 3,484-2,529.

In November 1996, voters were again asked to weigh in on Memorial Hall’s future - this time with two directly competing measures on the same ballot. It has always seemed a rather odd way to frame the questions to voters.

Here’s how the questions appeared on the ballot…

SHALL THE FOLLOWING BE ADOPTED?

Shall the Hutchinson City Council be authorized to issue general obligation bonds, of the City of Hutchinson, Kansas, in the amount of $2,688,000, the proceeds of which are to be used as follows: $1,950,000 for renovation of Memorial Hall, formerly known as Convention Hall, and $738,000 to provide an air conditioning system for Memorial Hall, pursuant to Article 12, Section 5 of the Kansas Constitution?

And, right below that…

SHALL THE FOLLOWING BE ADOPTED?

Shall the Hutchinson City Council be authorized to issue general obligation bonds of the City of Hutchinson, Kansas, in the amount of $850,000, the proceeds of which are to be used to demolish Memorial Hall, formerly known as Convention Hall, make site improvements and pay for design fees, pursuant to Article 12, Section 5 of the Kansas Constitution?

Voters rejected both questions, leaving the building in limbo and Hutchinson obliged to keep spending taxpayer dollars to effectively make no improvement or achieve any progress at all. We didn’t want to tear the building down, and we didn’t want to spend the money to fix it up right. And that’s a Hutchinson trait that has stalled our growth over the years.

Like most communities, we have a mixture of factions with different ideas about how to invest our money and build for the future. More often then not, our leaders tilt toward the austere, all in the spirit of being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. The problem is that over time, such decisions usually cost us more. They certainly interfere with our ability to develop a concrete identity and plan for the future.

We have a history of neglecting what needs to be done until we can’t ignore it any longer - then we are faced with an urgent, and expensive need. In some cases, like Memorial Hall, our penny-pinching ends up costing a whole lot more over time.

I’d also put Gowan’s Stadium, the Sports Arena, our stormwater drainage system, the Reno County jail, and the bond program for county bridges in that category. As I remember it, in each of those examples, we waited until we had our backs against the wall before taking decisive action.

It’s sort of like refusing to paint the siding on the house, even though not spending the money today will rot the wood and cost far more to replace in the future.

Back in 1996, the city council painted itself and every future council into a corner - and the taxpayers have shelled out money every year for a building that can’t be used in the warmer months, and serves as home to a only handful of events each year.

That decision by the council and voters has cost the city more over the years than it would’ve cost to do a wholesale renovation or to knock it down in 1996, and either option will cost far more today.

Despite modern rhetoric to the contrary, fiscal responsibility isn’t just about saving money today - it’s also about making smart investments that save money, preserve assets, and create opportunity for growth over time.

We’ve created a sort of governance-by-crisis - where instead of looking to ways we can invest in the future or chart a strategic path to growth and development, we are too often putting out metaphorical fires that take the shape of dilapidated buildings, crumbling infrastructure, and gaps in community resources. Rather than moving boldly into our tomorrow, we often find ourselves trying to keep the past alive, even though we’ve not given it the love and attention it needs to thrive and be a productive part of our future.

I’ve been asked my position on Memorial Hall. I probably lean slightly towards demolition, simply because we are again right were we were almost 30 years ago. But I don’t really have a strong opinion one way or the other.

I do strongly believe this property should always remain under public ownership. It would be foolish to give up control of a central part of downtown to some developer who promises us the moon but fails to deliver or gets distracted by something flashier somewhere else. We’ve fallen for that too many times, and we can’t allow that here.

I also strongly believe that we have to do something now, and we have to commit fully to it. We can’t push this off for another generation to deal with. We can’t keep wasting taxpayer money on the neglect of the past. That has cost us too much already. And whatever we do, it can’t be done because we want to keep this group or that happy, and it can’t be done because we’re fearful of the backlash against one decision or another.

Hutchinson needs to find its identity, decide who we want to be, and then determine if, and how, Memorial Hall serves the future goals we envision for our community.

Then just do it.

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” - Theodore Roosevelt