Topeka ? The office was cleaned and bags were packed, but Gov. Bill Graves had one last matter to handle Friday, announcing a $2.4 million grant for improvements to the Cheyenne Bottoms wetlands.

Graves, whose term ends Jan. 13, presided at a brief ceremony with a handful of reporters and officials from Barton County and various state agencies.

The Department of Wildlife and Parks received the grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation. The grant represented a portion of federal funds KDOT originally earmarked for construction of tunnels around the Capitol Complex in Topeka.

Graves said the money — about $10 million in all — had been “recycled” and was going back to communities. Legislators widely criticized the tunnel project as wasteful.

Wildlife and Parks Secretary Mike Hayden said groundbreaking on a new visitors center and observation tower near Great Bend was expected later this spring. However, because of the challenges in building on marshy soil, construction is not expected to be complete for a couple of years.

Funds raised by Barton County officials and the Kansas Wildscape Foundation will be used for future improvements.

About 70,000 people visit Cheyenne Bottoms each year — and officials say they hope they can increase that total.

“It’s a market,” said Cris Collier of the Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s just very untapped by Kansas.”

The state maintains 19,857 acres at the wetlands preserve, with another 7,200 acres managed by the Nature Conservancy. The area is a prime destination for migratory birds, including the vast majority of shorebirds in the spring.

“It’s a wetlands of international significance,” said Hayden, who served as governor in 1987-91.

While celebrating the future of Cheyenne Bottoms, Graves also discussed his own future.

Friday was the last day he and his staff would occupy the Governor’s Office on the second floor of the Statehouse. Beginning next week, Graves will swap offices with those held by Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius and her staff, also on the second floor of the Statehouse.

“It’s pretty bare back there,” Graves said after the news conference.

Except for a few scheduled photographs, Graves said he did not expect to be in the Statehouse much during the final week of his term.

“Not unless you guys need something,” said the two-term Republican governor, who is scheduled next week to undergo knee surgery.

Graves and his family have nearly completed their move out of Cedar Crest, the governor’s residence in northwest Topeka. Graves will move to Alexandria, Va., where he will take over as chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations on Jan. 15.

First lady Linda Graves and their daughter, Katie, will stay in Kansas to allow Katie to finish the school term.