Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Auctioneer Dan Acheson commandeered last week’s auction of the former West Elementary property.
The building that once housed West Elementary School changed hands at the auction put on by L.E.S. Realty, Co. on June 14, with Kimball Health Services purchasing the property.
The back of the room in the old school building where the auction was set to take place was packed with people on cell phones serving as proxies for potential buyers as Dan Acheson sat in the front of the room on a stool, microphone in hand, water bottle at his side, and ready to start.
The first round of the auction went by quickly ending with a bid of $45,000 with the second round passing by without a single bid. The third round was a showdown between Kimball Public Schools Superintendent Troy Unzicker, serving as a proxy for a potential buyer, and Ken Hunter, CEO of Kimball Health Services.
After several tense minutes of back-and-forth between the two parties, Hunter came out the victor, able to secure the building for Kimball Health Services with a bid of $95,000.
“I’m real tickled that we got it. I really am. I’m happy for our board. This will really keep us from having to build additional space,” Hunter said.
According to Hunter, the hospital plans to move over non-clinical, non-patient care services into the new building in order to increase the usable space in the hospital’s possession.
“Our hospital only has give or take, approximately 20,000 square feet of usable space. The typical hospital that has the same amount of business that we do has about 40,000 square feet. We have people in broom closets right now, and our doctors’ offices are patient exam rooms,” Hunter said.
Another idea Hunter has for the space is to use part of it as a community counseling center to address certain issues that have led to Kimball County recently being ranked lowest in health in the state of Nebraska. Hunter has also talked to the health department, which has not been a strong presence in Kimball for some time, about offering the department office space in the building.
However, the plans that Kimball Health Services have the building will not only serve the hospital’s needs, but Hunter hopes to use the space to help the community by way of offering part of the space as a community daycare.
“We are very interested in contracting and leasing out some of the space for a non-profit community daycare. The hospital does not want to manage things. They want to contract out. We would prefer that it would be non-profit and serve all income levels in the community,” Hunter said.
Hunter also plans to work with Kimball Economic Development Director Wilson Bowling in order to determine how the space and surrounding area purchased by the hospital can serve the community from a development standpoint.
“We believe there is tremendous value in the actual land here too. We will look at any kind of development that Wilson will present to us that will enhance the economy in this area and makes sense for the type of business we’d want in a residential area which is how this is zoned,” Hunter said.
Though Hunter admits that he did not expect bids to reach $95,000 for the property, it’s clear that he is grateful to the board of trustees for the hospital for allowing the building to purchased at such a cost.
“I was extremely pleased with our board of trustees for letting the hospital take the lead with what would be good for the community here,” Hunter said.
