A $150,000 gift from Cattle Bank and Trust will allow the Seward Civic Center to better welcome all visitors through the front door.
The original entry to the 70-year-old building is part of the second phase of civic center renovations.
People using the front entry must climb stairs to access the front door. Wheelchair accessible entries are available on the west addition and from the north parking lot of the civic center to the elevator, but the main entry still poses access challenges.
Cattle Bank and Trust President and CEO Ryne Seaman said their support for the civic center reflects the importance of the community activities that take place in the building and the bank’s commitment to reinvest in Seward.
“We give thanks by giving back. We are pleased to participate and help support such an important facility for our community,” Seaman said.
The bank’s support for the entry project is a good portion of the Seward Civic Center Commission’s Phase 2 renovation plans for which nearly $500,000 is to be raised in private gifts.
Seaman said he hopes the bank’s action will spur others to contribute so the center can be completely renovated.
Seaman and Cattle Bank Vice President Becky Vahle shared news of the gift with the Seward Civic Center Commission on Nov. 10.
Both noted the wide range of activities that occur at the civic center, from high school quiz bowls to piano recitals, chamber of commerce meetings to scout functions.
Vahle said closing the building for a year as major renovations were completed made people more aware of the many meetings and events that occur there.
The concept renderings for the entry are attractive and should be more welcoming to people – including those who may have been deterred from entering the building because of the stairs, she said.
“The inside is so well done and you have to be able to get in there,” Vahle said.
Civic Center Commissioner Mark Kolterman has chaired the renovation committee and said the gift brings the funding to the level needed to begin the work on the entry, front landscaping and likely the two additional handicap parking spaces planned for the north side of the building near the entry to the building’s elevator.
“We are excited and thankful for Cattle Bank and Trust,” Kolterman said, noting that Seaman and Vahle said they wanted to fund the priority project for the civic center. “We are tickled pink with how it is coming together.”
He expects some trees and bushes to be removed and some site preparation to be done yet this fall so construction work can begin next spring.
They hope to have the project completed by July 4th.
“We are now reaching out to architects,” Kolterman said.
City Administrator Greg Butcher said the existing architectural concept for the entry design will have to be translated into architectural construction plans, which may be slightly different than what the concept rendering now shows, he said. The construction would also likely go out for bids.
“With some of the landscaping and other projects that need to be completed, I think this just needs to be done,” Butcher said.
Kolterman said the commissioners’ renovation committee, which also includes Jan Matzke and Rick Endicott, will continue to raise funds for the remaining Phase 2 projects.
Those projects include work in the lower level of the civic center, including ceilings, lighting and flooring in the two banquet rooms and conversion of the full kitchen to a catering kitchen.
The first phase of the project updated the lower level’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning, replaced windows and created new handicap accessible restrooms.
The Seward Civic Center Commission planned and oversaw the $2.6 million 14-month civic center renovations that began in February 2024. The work included modernizing and making accessible the meeting rooms, bathrooms, main floor kitchen and hallways constructed in 1955.
The first phase of the project was funded by the Langworthy Trust, which finances normal operations for the center created by the estate of Jessie Tishue Langworthy.
That included the addition of a ramp by the stairs between the east and west sections of the building, replacement of heating, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing and fire suppression systems, modernizing first floor meeting rooms, improving technology access, and updated restrooms. Fire suppression was also extended to the 1977 addition on the west side of the complex.
The city-owned facility is staffed by city employees, but no tax funds or user fees are involved in its operation. It is overseen by the seven-member Civic Center Commission appointed by the mayor.
The Langworthy Trust, which is invested in farmland and managed by Ken Morgan, divides its income with 65% of the funds going to Seward Memorial Hospital and 35% to the civic center. Langworthy’s trust document made the facility the home for the chamber of commerce and the woman’s club but also made provisions for other organizations to use the facility, barring business/sales activity, alcohol, or personal use for receptions or parties.
