A $21 million federal grant that the city was counting on to help develop infrastructure and expand economic development in town is now paused, with local officials unsure about its future.
The RAISE grant was going to reconstruct a mile of road between 20th and 28th Streets, adding an additional lane and realigning 20th Street. The city was awarded the grant in 2023 and said at the time the project was “vital to the success of our city’s economic development south of K-10.”
The money was also going to help with traffic for the proposed STAR bond district/sports and entertainment venue, as well as infrastructure and storm water improvements.
In addition, the federal funding was going to help the Shadow Ridge North development and school connectivity to 20th Street to help with traffic around the area.
However, during a joint city and county meeting Monday night, city leaders shared an update that the money — now called the Build Grant — was on hold.
City Manager Kevyn Gero said the city was previously on track to sign a funding agreement with the federal government by the end of the year – a timeline that already felt delayed, she said.
The city’s federal contacts are now telling the city they have no updates and that the project is on pause after an executive order from President Donald Trump froze federal aid programs.
“It’s not a no, but it’s not a yes,” she said.
The city’s new strategy is to write to federal representatives telling them the importance of this funding for not only residential growth but also commercial growth, Gero said.
The potential for a new entertainment district and further development in town is somewhat reliant on the road expansion coming from the federal grant, Mayor Tim Reazin said.
“And the challenge we have is while we continue to wait for the RAISE Grant to come, for the Build Grant now, as we continue to wait for that Build Grant, it’s holding up things that we have started well in advance of Panasonic,” he said.
Reazin told the County Commission that while the grant is up in the air, there is potential to work together on 2300 Road and 20th Street to add connectivity for the area they want to build out as the STAR bond district. That would possibly include the entertainment district, hotel, apartments and other retail offerings, he said.
The challenge is that if the city decided to realign 20th on its own, Reazin is concerned the federal government will say the city no longer needs the federal grant even though it’s only about $3 million out of the $21 million.
County Commissioner Karen Willey said she and County Commissioner Erica Anderson would like to have bullet points for when they talk to federal representatives.
Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel said in an interview Tuesday that the infrastructure improvements will be delayed even if funding is restored. Originally, the plan was to start dirt work in 2026, he said.
As of the end of 2024, the city and Public Works had worked with the Federal Highway Administration to finish documents outlining project cost, right-of-way acquisition, design and material costs.
The city’s grant agreement with the federal government was submitted but not approved in time to allow the city to receive reimbursement for future money spent on improvements. Any money that the city would spend now on this project would not be reimbursed, Daniel said.
The city has the following options: 1.) to wait it out and assume the process could open again, 2.) to start the process and risk not receiving any federal money 3.) to explore other options with different partners to make access improvements that are outside the scope of the original project. This would essentially make it a whole new project needing funding.
Daniel said at this point the city is working to stress the importance of this project to future development. There are domino effects on other projects if the grant doesn’t happen, he said.
He encourages people to reach out to the city manager’s office with questions or reach out to federal and state representatives with questions or concerns.
During the meeting Monday night, the city further discussed its plans for a sports and family entertainment venue south of K-10. County commissioners asked how the entertainment district would compare to others in the area and how it would draw tournaments or games to the facility.
County Commissioner Patrick Kelly asked how the facility would compare to something like Rock Chalk Park.
Reazin said the two would not be similar because Rock Chalk Park is focused on a few sports, while the entertainment district would be a venue space for family events like concerts, possibly martial arts and tournaments.
Anderson said her children played sports for years and played at fields all over the metro, but wondered how Eudora would get teams to come to their complex.
Reazin said the company they had discussed working with originally was Eastern Sports Management, which plans tournaments across the country and could ensure teams were coming to town.
City staff and commissioners also discussed other development coming to the Nottingham Center. Reazin said the plan is still to hopefully have some kind of hardware store to anchor the development.
Commissioner Alex Curnes said the goal of the STAR bond is not just to draw in Lawrence but parts of Johnson County, especially with how close Olathe is.
In other business, County Administrator Sarah Plinsky said construction has begun to renovate and expand the Judicial Law Enforcement Center building on Massachusetts Street in Lawrence.
The county has outgrown the current building, leaving some new district court judges to make offices in conference rooms or old jury assembly rooms, she said
A new public safety building is also planned to go just to the west of the Douglas County jail. It will house a new storm-safe dispatch center and emergency management center in a secure facility. The sheriff’s operations division and patrol will move into the main floor of that building, she said.
These expansions and renovations for the Law Enforcement Center and Public Safety Building total around $88 million, she said. The county has $25 million in cash to go toward this and then will be issuing debt for the remaining funding. The projects will not need to raise residents’ taxes, she said.
Assistant County Administrator Sean Pedersen shared what information they have about the 2026 FIFA World Cup. There is a possibility that the event will use Rock Chalk Park as a base camp — basically a training facility for players. There are also two other locations that the base camp might go, so the county has to wait and see.
To prepare, the county has set up a unified command similar to the one used during the pandemic. It includes Emergency Management, Lawrence, representatives from KU and public information officers.
The World Cup will have about 40 days of tournament play, he said. About six matches will be at Arrowhead.
He said it’s estimated the event could have $653 million in regional impact.
Since people from all over the world will attend, they will be looking for things to do when not attending games, he said.
County officials asked the commission if there was anything they’d like to do to be involved or draw people to Eudora.
Willey said Lecompton had discussed the idea of a park and ride situation to get people where they need to go when parking will be limited.
Gero said without the hotel they are hoping to come to the STAR bond district, and with impacts not fully understood yet, it’s hard to know what impact there will be to Eudora.
The next City Commission meeting will be April 28.
