Auburn Civic Center

City of Auburn to use KAN STEP grant for new civic building

The City of Auburn, located just west of Topeka in Shawnee County, will use volunteer labor from the community valued at $157,427, a $51,779 contribution from the City, and $311,771 in KAN STEP funding from the Kansas Department of Commerce (Commerce) to construct a civic building valued at $520,977.

The city has approved a design by Mike Wilson of Architect One, P.A., Topeka for a 4,100 square-foot civic building to replace the existing Lions Building currently used as the city's community center. Auburn's new KAN STEP project will include a community meeting room for community events such as dinners and 4-H meetings. In addition to the community gathering room, the building will house a separate concession area to serve refreshments during community sporting events.

The "volunteer sparkplug" at Auburn is Eugene Wolf. Grant administration will be provided by Donna Crawford of Governmental Assistant Services. As mentioned earlier, Mike Wilson of Architect One PA., Topeka, is the architect for the project. Kansas Rural Water Association will provide inspection services and technical assistance.

KAN STEP is a self-help program that enables small communities to make major infrastructure improvements. Local people volunteer labor and services or "sweat equity," while the Kansas Department of Commerce provides funding for materials and technical services. An acronym for Kansas Small Towns Environment Program, KAN STEP gives small Kansas communities an opportunity to do projects they couldn't otherwise afford. The funding is provided through the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.