If county funding is available for one historic site, why not another?

That is the question some in Lecompton have been asking since Douglas County commissioners agreed to pay for part of the cost of cleaning up dump sites at Black Jack Battlefield east of Baldwin.

“I believe it is worth it to Douglas County to take a close look at helping to preserve its history in Lecompton,” Lecompton City Planning Commissioner Kathi Fair wrote in an e-mail to County Commissioner Charles Jones.

Fair was referring to the city’s effort to fix up the Lecompton Community Building, a stone structure that is nearly 100 years old. It was originally built as the Radical United Brethren Church, the only such church that still exists in Kansas.

After the city purchased the building in the 1930s, it served as a community building and city hall for years.

The estimated cost for rehabilitating the building is about $65,000, Fair said. That includes work on the floor, plaster, foundation and rest rooms, she said.

Last week Jones, along with County Commissioners Bob Johnson and Jere McElhaney, agreed to pay for part of the cost of cleaning up the dump sites at Black Jack. The request for financial help came from members of the Black Jack Battlefield Trust, a nonprofit organization that owns the property and wants to turn it into a tourist site.

Estimates show the cost of cleaning up the dumps could be as high as $90,000, but the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has agreed to pay 75 percent of the cost, up to $50,000, if the county pays the remainder.

The fact that KDHE is involved with the Black Jack cleanup and will provide most of the money was a large factor in the county’s decision to participate, Jones said. KDHE also requires that the county make the formal request for the funding. Another factor is that once Black Jack becomes a tourist site it will be of value to the local economy, Jones said.

“I wish there was enough money for the county to fund all requests, but there isn’t,” Jones said in his e-mailed response to Fair. “So we have to set conditions when and how county support would be available.”

Fair said she understands the importance of KDHE in the county’s decision, but she wants to emphasize the importance of Lecompton as a tourist site as well.

Lecompton also is home to the Constitution Hall and Territorial Capital museums, among other historical sites. More than 6,500 tourists visit the sites each year, she said.

Fair said she was confident funds for the Lecompton Community Building work could be found. An attempt is being made to get it designated as a state historical site, which would make grants more readily available to help pay for the work.

“We have a variety of fundraisers we’ll be doing,” she said.