KANZA buys Moser Building
KANZA Mental Health & Guidance Center has finalized the purchase of the Moser Building, the former Holton Community Hospital building at 510 Kansas Ave., it has been announced.
The purchase of the building was finalized on Aug. 27 following several years of the board considering options to acquire a building that would provide a single site for the center’s outpatient and community-based service operations in Jackson County, according to David Elsbury, CEO.
The building was purchased from Scott and Susan Foster of Holton at a cost of $300,000. KANZA’s Mental Health Foundation, in which Kent Saylor of Sabetha is president, provided a $150,000 loan to KANZA, which was added to the KANZA’s own funds to make the purchase outright, Elsbury said.
KANZA has been occupying the north portion of the Moser Building since 2012 and shares the currently renovated 6,300 square feet of space with the Jackson County Department of Juvenile Intake and Assessment.
About half of the 13,500 square foot building is unfinished and is not usable until additional remodeling is completed, Elsbury said.
“The center is working on plans to remodel the remainder of the building with the plan to bring all of its Jackson County operations into this space and also continue to have space for the youth services agency, led by Brooke Smith, executive director,” Elsbury said.
Elsbury and members of his staff and the governing board have been in conversation with the Jackson County Commission on possible options to bring this plan to completion.
“KANZA is not asking the county for any additional funds to complete the project but is asking for the county’s support in accomplishing the overall plan for the building,” he said.
KANZA was established as a community mental health center in 1963 as a private non-profit agency that contracts with counties and is licensed by the state.
It began serving Jackson County in 1974. Its initial location was at 204 W. Fourth St. near the town Square and then it moved to a store front building on the Square.
In the early 1990s, the KANZA board, in conversations with the Jackson County Commission, developed a plan to build the current outpatient clinic at 713 Idaho St., Elsbury said.
“This was built in 1992 and funded by a community development block grant and a loan from the Denison State Bank,” he said. “It has only 2,000 square feet of space.”
The building on Idaho Street is owned by KANZA’s Mental Health Foundation and is made available for the center’s use.
“The center outgrew that building prior to 2012 and needs additional space, provided by the Moser Building, to house all of its Jackson County services and staff,” he said. “The Moser Building will allow KANZA to increase the size of its services and staff in Jackson County.”
In August, the center increased the operating hours of its outpatient clinic in Holton to five days per week.
KANZA provides a wide range of outpatient and community based mental health services. It operates as part of the community’s safety net system and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide care to persons needing help with mental health needs.
KANZA works closely with area law enforcement agencies, medical providers, emergency room staff, courts and court services, as well as schools and other agencies.
Elsbury said the agency is dedicated to its slogan, “Offering hope for a better tomorrow.”
