photo by: Submitted graphic/Rockhill and Associates

With designs to renovate the old Eudora public safety building, right, and build a new two-story building on the left, Eudora city officials are looking to attract private investors to develop the sites at the southern gateway to the city's downtown.

With conceptual designs in hand, city of Eudora officials are looking for investors to redevelop two properties on the southern entrance to downtown.

Eudora City Manager Barack Matite said one of the properties is the 4,320-square-foot former public safety building at 840 Main St., which has been used for storage since the city’s fire and police departments moved in July 2013 to a new building at 930 Main St. The other site is west across Main Street from the old public safety building and includes a city-owned vacant lot and a privately owned car wash.

The city requested proposals to purchase and redevelop the old public safety building in early May, Matite said. The city received one response, but Eudora city commissioners decided it did not fit with the vision they had for the site. The City Commission then contracted the local architectural firm Rockhill and Associates, of Lecompton, to create conceptual designs to redevelop the old public safety building and the car wash and vacant lot, as well as planned upgrades at CPA Park, which is south across Ninth Street from the car wash.

The plans Rockhill and Associates developed for the old public safety building would renovate its three fire truck bays that face Main Street into retail space and the rear area of the building into offices, Matite said. The firm designed a new two-story building for the site west of Main Street, which would have small offices meant to appeal to startup businesses on the ground floor and apartments on the second floor, he said.

Eudora Mayor Tim Reazin said local businesses looking to relocate to a larger building or to downtown have shown interest in the old public safety building. He has shown the building to one interested party, and Assistant City Manager Leslie Herring has shown it to three others, he said.

The Douglas County Appraiser’s Office appraises the old public safety building at $348,000, but the city would work with the right developer on the cost, Reazin said.

“We recognize there is going to have to be an investment to make that building work,” he said. “I would much rather see it on the tax rolls and redeveloped into space that brings retail into our community than be used for storage.”

As for the properties on the west side of Main Street, Reazin said their redevelopment was still in early stages. The city would have to acquire the car wash or work out an agreement with the owner, he said.

Matite and Reazin said they hoped that redevelopment of the old public safety building coupled with the current economic health of downtown would build interest in the car wash and vacant lot site.

“Now we have a plan,” Reazin said. “We’re doing what we can to secure our entrance to downtown, and it’s a way to spark growth, too.”

The designs Rockhill and Associates developed for CPA Park include a parking area, new gazebo, amphitheater, restrooms, kitchen and play structures. No dollar figure has been attached to the designs, but they would be “expensive,” Matite said. The city will look for private donors to help with the new design as it moves forward with the park’s upgrade in the years ahead, he said.

Correction: A previous version of this story included an incorrect directional reference. CPA Park is south across Ninth Street from the former car wash building at the corner of Main and Ninth streets.