A new Eudora-focused exhibit will make its debut at the Eudora Community Museum this fall, historical society Director Ben Terwilliger said at Monday night’s City Commission meeting.
The exhibit will chronicle all of Eudora’s history, starting with Native American history and going to the present, he said.
Walls for the new exhibit have already been built into the main space of the museum, and the exhibit text and images have now been finalized. A graphic designer and a printer have been hired as well.
The entire exhibit will be built for about $16,000. The exhibit’s walls were built by Eudora contractor Louis Cox. This cost is significantly less than the $40,000 to $100,000 originally quoted by exhibit design companies, he said.
The museum will still need an electrician to install lights to allow patrons to better read the information, he said.
Terwilliger thinks the new exhibit will have its grand opening during this year’s EudoraFest.
Also during Terwilliger biannual update on the Eudora Area Historical Society, he said the museum will likely have a new record for number of students to visit in a year. So far, about 530 students have visited on field trips, with many still planned. The current record is 594 students. Over his tenure at the museum, about 3,700 students have visited.
Visitation is also impressive for the number of people who live in the community, he said. About 31% of all the people who live in Eudora visit the museum, whereas for the Watkins Museum in Lawrence, this number is about 13%, he said.
Over the summer, the museum had its 20,000th visitor, he said. This past June was the second best month for museum visitation since its opening with 561 visitors.
Terwilliger also let the commission know about updates coming to the B’nai Israel Cemetery and the Southwest Cemetery. KU graduate students think there are about 35 to 70 burial spots at the Southwest Cemetery, compared to the only 12 tombstones, he said. The historical society’s September program will focus on the cemetery.
About 52% of the historical society’s members live in Eudora, about 67% live in Douglas County and about 14% live in Lawrence. Another 17% live in Kansas outside of Douglas County and about 16% live outside the state, he said.
In other business, the City Commission certified the 2025 budget after holding a mandatory public hearing for both the budget and exceeding of the revenue neutral rate.
No residents spoke during either public hearing. Full details about the budget can be found in our prior stories here and here.
In other business, the city also approved a resolution to vacate the 23rd Street right of way west of Church Street. This follows a traffic study by CFS Engineers to determine the best location for connector streets near the high school. The city held a public hearing for such, but no residents spoke.
Ultimately, it was decided that the school district would place its road to the north to give the high school two access points, adding one north to 20th Street after its realignment and RAISE grant changes. The new Shadow Ridge development will also allow for future expansion of 23rd Street if necessary in the future.
During staff updates, City Manager Kevyn Gero said her office received a call from Rep. Sharice Davids about the needs for child care with Panasonic and other industries coming to the area. Gero will be taking opinions and asked that if commissioners hear anything about community thoughts to pass them along to her. She said she’s not sure if funding will come from those conversations or if it is more about coordinating and building community.
Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel said the city is preparing to start another Citizens Academy and will send registration information soon. He also reminded people of the first farmers market at Village Green Sept. 10.
Public Works Director Branden Boyd said there are about three items left to do for the K-10 pedestrian crossing: a hand railing, flashing beacons and final seeding.
Police Chief Wes Lovett said the police department will host a Cones with a Cop on Sept. 11 in its parking lot. The Main Street Scoops and Sweets truck will supply ice cream to students from 1 to 3 p.m. as it is an early release day.
Chief Mindy Andrasevits announced she will be resigning from her position and her last day will be Sept. 6.
“You know, sometimes opportunities come along, and it’s goofy not to take them, and I was presented with this opportunity with the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association),” Andrasevits said. “I’ll take a regional director position with NFPA.”
She also said the station graduated six new firefighters last weekend.
Parks and Rec Director Sally Pennington said the pool’s last day will be Sunday. She said about 30 kids participated in last weekend’s triathlon.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected].
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