New bids sought for Banner community building

Plans for a new community building at Banner Creek Reservoir were sent back to the drawing board last summer after bids for the project were over budget.

Now after reassessing and scaling back the project, new bids are being sought for the building’s construction at a more prominent location at the reservoir, said Kurt Zibell, Banner Creek Reservoir manager.

The new building will be 42-foot by 60-foot and include a 2,000-square foot event room, a large kitchen, men’s and women’s bathrooms, a storage room and a covered porch.

The new plans no longer include the construction of a basement, which would have also been used as a storm shelter for all reservoir visitors, it was reported.  

“We’ve tried to simplify it as much as we can to be a very usable building, but, at the same time, be practical too,” Zibell said of the plans. “We want to provide a place for the community to have business meetings, wedding receptions and other gatherings. I think it’ll be a very well used building whenever we get it off the ground.”

Members of Friends of Banner Creek Reservoir have spearheaded the community building project, raising funds for its construction for several years.

In July of 2020, the FOBCR applied for a $160,000 matching grant through the Kansas Land & Water Conservation Fund based off bids originally acquired for the building in April of 2020. 

Due to COVID-19, the state delayed releasing any grant funds, and the building project was at a standstill for 548 days from the time the grant was submitted to when the grant was awarded on Oct. 1, 2021, it was reported. During that time, the price of building materials greatly increased. 

Last May, four bids for the construction of the community building were opened and ranged from $744,467 to $956,789.24, which was more than double the funds earmarked for the project. 

FOBCR members and Zibell have since re-evaluated the project, and FOBCR has raised some additional funds for the construction of the building. 

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