Beaver Crossing just got a major boost thanks to a $630,000 Community Development Block Grant to construct a new community building.
CDBGs fund community projects that aim to enhance local vitality, public health and safety, economic well-being and quality of life. The grants are through the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds them.
Beaver Crossing will put the grant money toward replacing its community building. Like the current building, the new structure will house the local American Legion post as well as community events. Beaver Crossing Village Board member Kaely Eberspacher said the main steel structure of the current building was built in 1916. It has been a staple in the village and had several uses throughout the years.
Lance Breitkreutz, a former member of the village board and volunteer with the community building project, said the current building is outdated, and it does not meet several Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
The community has discussed the need for the center to be revamped or replaced for the past several years.
“The building just isn’t serving the community well anymore,” Eberspacher said. “It’s pretty outdated.”
The new community building will be up to code and able to accommodate a range of events and public functions. The overall space will be larger, and the bathrooms will be more spacious and accessible for persons with disabilities. The building may also include a catering kitchen. Breitzkreutz said this would be ideal for events such as banquets, weddings, reunions, graduations and the legion’s annual fish fry.
The project is in its beginning stages, and the building’s square footage is to be determined, Eberspacher said. Since it will be a community building, the village will likely ask for community input as it finalizes its plans.
Eberspacher said she would love to find a way to incorporate the village’s past into its future building. Since the new building will be larger and more practical, it will look different from the old one.
However, she wants to keep its history alive.
“We’re not leaving our past behind, and it’s going where the legion was, and we’re going to make it a wonderful space that the town can love like we’ve loved the legion for all of these years,” she said. ‘It’s just going to be updated so it can move us into the future.”
Breitzkreutz said he looks forward to watching the center bring people together and seeing how it might grow to house an increasing number of community events and programs over the years. He said he even sees the possibility of the space hosting youth activities one day.
“We want to make sure that we can accommodate different activities and groups, anywhere from maybe adding a more efficient utility system, heating and air insulation, maybe even to the point someday we get a nice sound system, audio/visual, so if there's presentations we do,” he said. “We’re lucky that we have corporations in the agriculture side of business, so we want to be able to offer that space for something if they ever so choose to use it.”
He envisions people in Beaver Crossing’s surrounding areas using the space as well. Part of being a community is opening up and inviting everyone, he said.
Since tornadoes hit Beaver Crossing in 2014, the village has been slowly rebuilding its park and improving the impacted areas of the community. The community building sits within that area, so Eberspacher said the project fits the village’s goals to revitalize the space and keep the parks area an alive and active asset to the community.
Eberspacher said the village was thrilled to receive the grant, and she believes the new building will be a dream.
“Honestly, we didn’t know what to really fully expect with the grant, so I was trying to expect the least and hope for the best, so that in the event that we weren’t awarded, or we were awarded a much smaller fraction, that we knew our project was going to require a lot of funds to make it happen,” Breitzkreutz said. “Receiving (the $630,000) was a pretty incredible surprise.”
The total project is estimated to cost more than $1 million, he said. Local businesses, corporations and individuals have donated or showed interest in helping fund the project, and Eberspacher said the village may hold fundraising efforts in the future.
To donate to the new community building fund, mail a check to the Beaver Crossing City Hall.
“There’s a need for our town and surrounding communities to have a nice, large space for events,” she said. “Hopefully, it will be great for us and others. There is such a place for this in our community that we are excited at the opportunity for our community to come together in this new endeavor.”
