Allen County commissioners said on Tuesday they intend to provide $100,000 in their 2018 budget to support the Bowlus Fine Arts and Cultural Center.
The county upped its support to the Bowlus from $32,000 to $82,000 in 2016 when the school district complained it could not afford its commitment to the fine arts center because of state budget cuts to school districts.
The $32,000 came as a match to Iola’s contribution when in 2014 the city dedicated 1 mill of property tax, about $32,000, to support Bowlus operations. In 2016, the county had budgeted $32,000 when commissioners decided to up their contribution to $100,000 a year. With half the year remaining, they added $50,000 for the $82,000 grant.
Commissioners then made the $100,000 grant a budget line item in 2016.
The district had paid about $140,000 a year for educational programs — music, art and drama — in the center, and had decided to reduce its commitment.
The county’s future support for the Bowlus may now be in jeopardy, said Commissioner Tom Williams, because of a lawsuit the school district filed in District Court last year asking for another interpretation of the will of benefactor Thomas Bowlus. The trust set aside money to build the center in the early 1960s, and further funded its maintenance at $1 million, an amount that eroded with time and inflation. The local school district, then No. 10, agreed to be custodian of the center and use it for the cultural education of its students.
Over the last several years the district has moved its music classes from the center. If the district were to abandon the Bowlus altogether, an occurrence that may be the central topic of the lawsuit, commissioners are unsure whether they will continue to provide aid.
“Right now we’re committed to the Bowlus,” said Commissioner Jerry Daniels.
“I grew up with it,” said Commissioner Jim Talkington, to explain his support.
“It is a countywide” resource, Commissioner Tom Williams said.
But, a provision of the Bowlus will may cede the building and its resources to the University of Kansas, if the school district were to quit it completely.
Consequently, county participation may change if District Judge Robert Fairchild, Lawrence, rules the school district can absolve itself of its relationship with the fine arts center. Fairchild was appointed to sit over proceedings after Allen County District Judge Dan Creitz recused himself. Creitz ruled he had a clear conflict. His grandfather, Dale Creitz, was the center’s first director.
IN OTHER NEWS, commissioners:
— Declared replacement of a water heater in the jail an emergency, which permitted them to avoid having to bid the project. Design Mechanical, Kansas City, Kan., will install a 100-gallon unit for about $10,500. County policy is to bid expenditures of $10,000 or more. Sheriff Bryan Murphy explained the current heater, in place five to six years, was rusted and leaking. Also, on the vendor’s recommendation, the 100-gallon heater is deemed sufficient. The older one was rated at 150 gallons.
— May include a line item in their 2018 budget to support work of the Allen County Animal Rescue Facility. Inclusion will depend on ACARF writing a letter of memorandum agreeing to cooperate with Sheriff Murphy on in-take of animals from unincorporated areas; “We pick up very few animals,” Murphy said.
