Water insures El Dorado’s capacity to grow

El Dorado Today

Administrators at Butler Com-munity College are pleased with fundraising efforts to build the Hubbard Welcome Center on the main campus in El Dorado. At 99% of the goal reached, college officials hope to break ground within the coming year. This summer, the college park-ing lot will be redesigned and renovated, giving workers the opportunity to bring in utilities in preparation for the site.

The Welcome Center will serve as Butler’s point of welcome and first impression for visitors, alumni and potential students

and their families. The facility will feature an 800-seat community center and offices for the college president and foundation/alumni relations personnel. In addition to space for Butler’s heritage, the building will be home to several college and community meeting rooms.

The Welcome Center will be

staffed to help first time students and parents navigate their college experience.

The Clifford Stone Community Center will be the crown jewel of the center, and will provide space for community gatherings.

BCC Welcome Center will serve students, community

Not only has El Dorado’s water been voted “the best tasting water in Kansas,” but the city has an abundant supply of water.

Award-winning water treat-ment- Some years ago, the City of El Dorado built a pilot wet-land treatment system which used nature to purify wastewater. After three years of testing, the city met with KDHE, which approved the concept of incor-porating wetlands into the treat-ment process. El Dorado has the only treatment facility in the state that incorporates a wetlands ecosystem with an advanced “activated sludge” facility.

Built just last year, the new El Dorado water treatment facility saved an estimated $2 million by downsizing the facility and sub-stituting wetlands for mechanical plant capacity. Currently operat-ing at 2 million gallons of water treated per day, the plant has a 6 million gallons per day capacity.

This year the City of El Dorado was recognized by the American Public Works Association by receiving the Project of the Year Award in the Environment Category for its Wetlands and Water Reclamation Facility.

Raw water- The City of El Dorado is unique in that it is the only city in the State of

Kansas to contract directly with the Corps of Engineers for its raw water source - El Dorado Reservoir. The City of El Dorado holds sole owner-ship of all water to be used for public water supply.

The citizens of El Dorado are fortunate to have access to an abundant supply of water in the El Dorado Reservoir– more than enough for industrial and residential use for years to come.

News from El Dorado, Kansas July 2008

Volume 2, Issue 3

Preparing students for the workforce

2

“Put on Your Boots” Western art exhibit

2

KDOC Business Awards 2

1958 Tornado Memorial dedication

3

Broncos Baseball 3

Traveling Tribute to visit El Dorado

3

Location, location, location

4

Inside this issue:

Special points of interest:

“Thankful Thursday” happens on the first Thursday of each month in downtown El Dorado. Participating merchants show their appreciation for your business by offering special discounts– up to 20%- on that day. Visit El Dorado on Thankful Thursday, and be sure to ask for your discount!

Hubbard Welcome Center on the main campus of Butler Community College

Bridge on El Dorado’s newly opened bike path

Paid advertising supplement to the Business Journal

The Kansas Board of Education has approved a grant to establish Project Extend, USD 490’s planned charter school. The Board of Education has begun recruiting students for the new program who are needing or wanting an alternative to the traditional high school setting. The program is designed to help students who opt not to pursue secondary education, increase workforce readiness and decrease the drop out rate while keeping the students

engaged. Up to 40 students will be served in an off-campus setting through Project Extend, which will have a strong focus on work ethic and community service. The Board is currently recruiting a director and is shooting for an August opening.

Another EHS program de-signed to train students for entry into the workforce is the E-CATS program, El Dorado Career and Technical School. Through the program high school juniors and seniors may

take college credit hours at Butler Community College in technical education classes. Students in the program attend El Dorado High School part time to earn their diplomas. This year E-CATS students were enrolled in five different programs at BCC- Automotive Technology, Digital Media Specialist, Web Development Specialist, Infor-mation Assurance & Digital Forensics and Fire Science. Eighteen Technical Education programs were available through E-CATS.

Excellence Award, and the remaining companies were given a Business Achievement Award or a Merit Award.

In the Manufacturing/Distribution category, El Dorado Frontier Refining received the Business Excellence Award and was recognized as one of four state finalists for the Gov-ernor’s Award of Excellence.

Three El Dorado businesses were honored on June 13th, at the Kansas Department of Commerce’s annual Kansas Business Appreciation Month South Central Regional Awards ceremony in Hutchinson. In each of three categories- Manufacturing/Distribution, Service and Retail- one com-pany was awarded a Business

In the Service category, Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital received the Business Excellence Award. In the Retail Category, Specs Eyewear of El Dorado received a Merit Award.

Another business with strong El Dorado connections, Graves Drug of Ark City, received the Business Excellence Award in the Retail category.

USD 490 working to prepare students for the workforce

KDOC Awards recognize excellence in El Dorado

displays of cowboy boots from local residents.

After a lifetime of painting, Connaway takes her inspiration from the many rodeo and horse show events she has attended. Her love of the people she has met along the way has caused her to appreciate the history and spirit of the American cowboy, and want to share it with her audience.

After running a portrait studio for a number of years, McNary

has begun visually chronicling the life of the Flint Hills Cowboy through his camera, desiring to capture the spirit of the American West within the people who live in these beautiful hills. He chose black and white photography to capture the historical essence of a modern day cattle drive.

The Coutts Museum is open Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. The exhibit runs through July 25th.

“Put on Your Boots” exhibit celebrates Kansas heritage

Are you looking for a taste of the American West this summer? If it’s rodeos and cattle drives you’re wanting to experience, the “Put on Your Boots” exhibit at the Coutts Museum of Art , 110 N. Main in El Dorado, will satisfy your thirst.

The exhibit features rodeo themed oil paintings by Wichita artist Sharon Connaway and the spirit of the Great American Cowboy portrayed in black and white photography of Rick McNary. Adding character to the exhibit are

Page 2 E l Dorado Today Volume 2, Issue 3

Accepting Regional Awards from El Dorado, L to R: Sec. of Commerce David Kerr, Bill Kloeblen of Frontier Refining, Gene Kimble, Gayle Arnett and Mike Wheeler representing Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital, and Asst. Sec. of Commerce Steve Kelly.

Oil painting by Sharon Connaway on exhibit at the Coutts Museum

Auto-tech students in El Dorado High School’s E-CATS program

El Doradoans remember 1958 twister

Traveling Tribute to visit El Dorado in July

Broncos bring players from across U.S. to town

View of the wind harp on the 1958 Tornado Memorial in El Dorado’s Graham Park

The City’s Comprehensive Plan is a guide for making planning and zoning decisions and establishes community-wide goals.

Kansas communities are no strangers to violent weather. El Dorado is no exception. The young town was struck in 1871, in 1905 and then again in 1914. But it was the "the back-ward tornado" on June 10, 1958 that remains in the memories of residents living here at the time.

On June 10, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. members of the El Dorado Rotary Club dedicated a memorial to the 13 victims who lost their lives to the 1958 tornado. The memorial was built with funds raised by the club, and features 13 pillars and a wind harp which captures the wind’s soft melody. The wind

harp, designed by artist Ross Barrable of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, was placed on top of a bending pedestal, which represents the community whose spirit was bent but not broken that day.

During the dedication at 5:45 p.m., the precise moment that the twister struck fifty years ago, the tornado sirens in town sounded to commemorate the historic event. The memorial is a permanent fixture at Graham Park, 1600 Edgemoor, in El Dorado, and will be a perpetual tribute not only to those whose lives were lost that day, but to the courage and recovery effort of the entire community.

Hundreds of community mem-bers and friends attended the dedication. Special guests at the memorial were surviving family members and friends of those who were killed that day. A community wide reception was held following the ceremony.

Rotary Club Treasurer and project chairman Steve Pershall said, “It was a very poignant time for the tornado survi-vors. Their thanks made the whole monumental effort worthwhile.”

The Butler County History Center exhibit “Two Minutes of Terror”, which runs through October 4th aptly documents the 1958 twister.

are a top contender for the NBC World Series each year, and won the championship in 1989, 1990, 1996, 1998. They have finished in the top five teams four times and the top ten every year except one since 1987.

Each year local families volunteer to house the ball players. Host families provide a home, a bed, at least one meal per day, laundry facilities and moral support for these boys so far from home.

This year the El Dorado Broncos were again voted one of the top summer collegiate baseball teams by Baseball America. Currently more than ten former Broncos are in the major leagues. For a $3 ticket, you may be watching future pros when you watch Bronco Baseball!

For a complete schedule of games visit www..eldoradobroncos.org. In El Dorado the Broncos play at historic McDonald Stadium.

Each summer they come from across the country to play base-ball– from as far away as Hawaii, all the way to Albany. They are elite college baseball players who come to play in the Jayhawk League and hopefully play in the National Baseball Congress World Series in August.

The Jayhawk League is one of the premier leagues in the country and has produced such stars as Ozzie Smith, Barry Bonds, Bud Black and others. The Broncos

remember those who served and are serving in the military.

Features of the exhibit include the Vietnam Memorial Traveling wall, a replica of the original memorial at 80% of its size, and the Cost of Freedom displays which are nine large memorials represented in gold dog tags under glass to remember and honor all who died in service Since Vietnam, including Endur-ing Freedom, Iraqi Freedom,

The 2008 Kansas Veterans and Family Reunion (formerly Kansas Vietnam Veterans and Family Reunion) is expected to draw hundreds of veterans and their families to El Dorado Lake on July 17 through 20.

The Reunion will host the American Veterans Traveling Tribute Exhibit. AVTT travels the country each year with a mission to honor, respect and

and the terror attack on 9/11. A large art display and a Walk of Heroes display also accompanies the AVTT.

Ceremonies are planned for members of Scouts, Fire, Police, Emergency Medical, and a Salute to Veterans on Saturday.

The Reunion will honor military veterans of all conflicts, and will be held at Veteran’s Point, Shady Creek, Loop 3. To learn more, visit www.ksvetsreunion..org.

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Historic McDonald Stadium, home of the El Dorado Broncos

“Wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

Peter Drucker

El Dorado Inc. is a public/private partnership with the City of El Dorado whose mission is to further the economic development of the El Dorado area and its environs. The primary objectives of El Dorado Inc. shall be to benefit the community as measured by increased employment, payroll, business volume, housing starts and similar factors.

For El Dorado Inc. membership information, contact Linda Jolly at 321-1485 or lkjolly@eldorado-inc.com

El Dorado Inc. 201 E. Central P.O. Box 350 El Dorado, KS 67042

We’re on the web! Visit us at www.eldorado-inc.com and www.visiteldoradoks.com

Phone: 316-321-1485 Fax: 316-321-5419 E-mail: lkjolly@eldorado-inc.com

El Dorado, Kansas—Where we enjoy the fine art of living well!

News from El Dorado, Kansas

Denver, Kansas City, Minnea-polis, St. Louis and other major cities in the United States.

Convenient living- Highway 254, a 4-lane highway, provides an excellent connection be-tween El Dorado and Wichita. El Dorado residents enjoy small town living within 20-minutes of a large metropolitan area for working and playing. In other words, it’s possible to live in the safety and conven-ience of a small town, yet have all the advantages of a larger city just minutes away.

Workforce– Although El Dorado’s population is close to 12,000, over 57,000 people live within a 20-milee radius of the community. Within a 40-mile radius it jumps to over 500,000.

Talk about location! In terms of highway transportation, rail service, proximity to large met-ropolitan areas, and availability to water, El Dorado is in an ideal location.

Freight transportation- El Dorado is served by four major highways, as well as the Bur-lington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific Railroads. A rail spur was added to the El Dorado Industrial Park in 1998, and reciprocal switching services are available.

This access to major highways and rail makes El Dorado an ideal location for moving freight. There are 55 motor carriers in the immediate area as well as 16 terminals. El Dorado has next day delivery to Dallas,

Location, location, location