Garden City ? The meatpacking plant that once drove much of this southwest Kansas town’s economy has been idle since a devastating fire six years ago, and it shows.

But Garden City is showing signs of recovery from the Dec. 25-26, 2000, fire that wiped out the plant’s 2,300 jobs.

Chief among them is the $85 million ethanol plant going up just east of town. There’s also a proposal by Sunflower Energy Corp. to build three power generators – a $3.6 billion project – in neighboring Holcomb.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction, and I think everyone knows that,” City Manager Bob Halloran said.

It has been a slow process, though. Garden City has lost population since the 2000 census, and unemployment is higher than in Liberal and Dodge City, two other southwest Kansas meatpacking towns.

“Ever since the fire, I’ve just been treading water,” said men’s clothing store owner Kendall Kepley. “It hit hard.”

But now, Kepley said, “I think we’re on the rebound out here.”

After the fire, there was hope that ConAgra, which then owned the plant, would rebuild it and reopen. That didn’t happen, leading many of the plant’s workers, who represented almost 12 percent of Finney County’s labor force before the fire, to seek jobs elsewhere.

The combined annual payroll of around $40 million also was gone.

The plant is now owned by Swift & Co. of Greeley, Colo. Company spokesman Sean McHugh says Swift is weighing its options, including selling the building.

The burned areas have been rebuilt, although the plant remains largely gutted.

The ethanol plant is expected to create up to 40 jobs, with a yearly payroll of $1.4 million. And the Sunflower project, if approved by state authorities, would create around 2,000 construction jobs and 140 full-time positions.

“I would say the community is pretty excited about what’s going to be taking place in the next year or so,” said Eric Depperschmidt, head of the Finney County Economic Development Corp. “We’re on the verge of seeing some really good things happen for Finney County.”

Some already are happening. There are five new businesses in the city center, and Halloran said 2006 sales tax collections are expected to surpass 2005 levels, even if they still fall short of the collections in 2000.