The historic Pilla building at 701 Main St will receive a $250,000 federal grant to renovate and rehab the building.
During last week’s City Commission meeting, commissioners unanimously agreed to move along the process to start renovations on the building.
Property owners Paul and Kawehi Wight are working with a grant administrator, Carey Spoon of Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission, to continue the next steps with the funding from the U.S. Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program.
Mayor Tim Reazin said he appreciates the effort of everyone involved in the renovation, including the state and the property owners.
Spoon has been working with Wights for over two years to procure the grant application and examine the scope of work so the state would award them the grant. Last year, the project was denied since the state had used up its money for the year.
“In my experience, it helps property owners stretch their dollars farther to, in this case, rehabilitate a building and make it useful again since it currently isn’t,” Spoon said.
In January, they applied for a second time and are now in the process of working with architects. Once the architect finishes the final design plans, Spoon will work with the city to publish the bid. After being advertised for 30 days, it will go to the lowest responsible bidder. Construction may begin after city approval.
Bringing downtown to life
City Manager Barack Matite believes in the importance of bringing renovations to downtown to help focus on investing in properties while helping owners to fix deteriorating buildings.
In 2010, the city created an economic development plan that detailed a process to guide the community’s expansion of economic influence. It targeted three areas: Nottingham, downtown and East 10th Street. These are vital to spreading the tax base, Matite said.
“By us not investing in it, it would’ve continued to deteriorate, thus impacting what the city could be or what the city would aspire to be,” Matite said. “We know the city is well-positioned. We know that we need to expand business opportunities and our tax base, and we can’t do that if we are not helping revitalize downtown.”
When the city created the Downtown Grant Program in 2010, the city embarked on helping property owners fix up their historic buildings.
When the city realized they needed more funds, they investigated applying for other grants like the Community Development Block Grant to bring in the money they needed to invest in the community.
“It’s been transformative, from helping 714 Main to now 701 Main, to fix up and renovate the buildings. It’s great. That’s $250,000 that we have been able to bring to downtown,” Matite said.
The revitalization will help bring more small businesses to Eudora and provide entrepreneurs the opportunity to expand, Matite said.
“Not every city cares that deeply about its history”
The Pilla building repairs will include work on the interior and exterior. The project will remove asbestos hazards and seeks to improve building façade and accessibility while bringing the building up to meet current city building codes. The estimated cost is $372,305 with $122,305 coming from the property owners.
The building is the second oldest commercial building that still stands in downtown Eudora, said Ben Terwilliger, executive director of the Eudora Area Historical Society.
It was built in 1865 and owned by the Pilla brothers, Frederick and Charles. At its start, the building was a general store and remained that way for decades.
The Pilla brothers were known for their wealth and recognized as community leaders. The brothers emigrated from Germany and had one of the most prosperous businesses in Eudora during the time.
After the death of the brothers, many different grocery stores opened in the building until about the 1980s. At this time the building was remodeled into a recording studio, Red House Recording Studio.
Bands traveled through Kansas and would record in this studio, Terwilliger said. The building was bought by the band, The Get Up Kids, who used it as a recording studio for many years.
The Wights have owned the building since 2013. Kawehi is a singer and performer who uses the stage name I Am Kawehi. Kawehi has a European tour set for April and her top song on Spotify has over 300,000 streams.
Kawehi plans to use the renovated building as a recording studio, Spoon said. Attempts to reach the Wights for comment for this story were unsuccessful.
Terwilliger thinks it is vital to keep historic buildings like the Pilla building instead of tearing them down to rebuild.
“I feel very fortunate to be in a city where the city government cares so deeply about historic preservation,” Terwilliger said. “Not every city cares that deeply about its history.”
He believes it makes the small town even more special.
“This is where our history is. This is where the original things in Eudora were built. This is the best place to see the history,” he said.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]
