40 years ago: Administrative plans underway for Cottonwood facility

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for June 6, 1971:

Plans and policies were being formulated for the new Cottonwood, Inc., facility, which was scheduled to open in early 1972 on South 31st Street. Cottonwood director Gary Condra was currently visiting similar centers in other cities to see how they handled administrative issues. Cottonwood was to first enroll about 40 adults with developmental disabilities, Condra said, including about 20 who were currently at the Bess Stone Center, 745 Ohio. The Bess Stone center was to continue as a “dormitory” for the adults, and Condra expected bus service to be provided between the two sites. Those adults who could not live at Bess Stone would continue to live at home. Condra explained that Cottonwood would provide a work activity center where adults would learn daily-living skills such as laundry, cleaning, and preparing food. At the next level would be a sheltered workshop where the adults would learn to use vocational skills. Condra said that Cottonwood might be called upon to serve people from a wide geographic area, as there were only two other similar facilities in the state, one in Emporia and one in Wichita.