A $2.8 million renovation is planned for the Seward Civic Center to update systems dating to the 1950s and improve handicap accessibility.
Sen. Mark Kolterman and Rick Endicott, both members of the Civic Center Commission, recently requested approval for the project from the Seward City Council.
“We started these conversations many years ago as we were trying to address some of the ADA issues,” Mayor Josh Eickmeier said.
The building is owned by the City of Seward, but the renovation will be paid for through the Langworthy Trust, which created the Civic Center in 1955 with funds from lifelong Seward resident Jesse T. Langworthy.
The west addition, which includes the auditorium, was constructed in 1977.
In April, the council approved the commission to hire an architect, Clark & Enersen of Omaha, to begin the planning process.
Now, the commission presented those architectural plans and got approval to move forward with the bidding process in early 2024.
Kolterman said the driving force behind the project is to fix the only connection between the east and west sides of the building: a narrow flight of stairs.
“You have to go down some steps to get over there,” he said.
Or, go outside and maneuver into an elevator lift.
The commission plans to reconfigure conference and office spaces to make way for an interior ramp between the two sides of the building.
“The Civic Center Commission has looked at many, many things over the last five years,” he said. “This keeps coming back as being the most cost-effective way of doing it.”
The commission also plans to address aging plumbing, heating and cooling systems, install new electrical panels and upgrade to more efficient lighting throughout the building.
Bathrooms will be brought up to code with more fixtures and rearranged so men’s and women’s rooms are next to one another, not on opposite ends of the building as they currently are in the east half of the center.
Audio/visual technology will be improved in all spaces used for presentations, including the auditorium, both fireplace rooms upstairs, the A/V Room and the lower level banquet room.
Changes will be made to the kitchens on both the lower level and main floor, turning them into a catering kitchen downstairs and a warming kitchen upstairs – meaning they will no longer have stoves.
“Nobody really cooks down there that we have been able to find anymore,” Kolterman said.
The lower level will gain storage for tables and chairs, and furnishings in the upstairs fireplace rooms will be updated while maintaining the character of the spaces.
Kolterman said other than technology updates, the auditorium will stay the same for now.
“We really don’t have a lot of plans to change that right now because of cost, but we know that these bathrooms are woefully inadequate,” he said.
An addition will be added to the rear of the west building to expand the bathrooms near the auditorium.
Offices spaces that house the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership will be renovated to better fit the needs of the SCCDP.
The south entrance to the east half of the building will be made accessible by ramps, and the worn steps will be rebuilt.
HVAC systems will be replaced and put on a central control system.
Kolterman said the project will be completed in three phases, with phases 1 and 2 bid together.
“We’re looking at several million dollars if we did it all at once,” he said.
The Langworthy Trust has enough funds to complete the first two phases, then will follow up with the third phase in a year or two.
Phase three includes the west side bathrooms, SCCDP offices and the south entrance.
Groups that regularly meet in the Civic Center will have to relocate temporarily while the work is being completed.
“We’re very fortunate to have the Langworthy Trust and such a great asset for the community,” Eickmeier said. “(The Civic Center) gets used a lot, and it’s good that we have an opportunity to take care of it and bring it into the condition that it needs to be for future use as well.”
