(MANHATTAN, Kan. – February 3, 2023) — Residents are invited to attend a public dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, February 10 inside the City’s brand-new Joint Maintenance Facility (JMF), located southeast of U.S. 24 at 1000 Levee Drive.
The event, which will be held in the north vehicle repair and maintenance shop, will begin with comments from the following construction and City officials:
- City Manager Ron Fehr
- Mayor Mark Hatesohl
- Patrick Schaub, principal architect with BBN Architects, Inc.
- Kyle Montoya, project manager with McCownGordon
- Public Works Director Rob Ott
Following these remarks and the official dedication will be a ribbon-cutting event at 3 p.m., facilitated by the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re excited to finally dedicate and show off this state-of-the-art consolidated administration, maintenance, operations, refueling, repair, and storage facility to the public,” said Public Works Director Rob Ott.
“The opening of this facility marks a new standard for the City in terms of efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and it will allow us to close and dispose of several other aging, undersized, and inadequate buildings, providing a greater value to both taxpayers and our valued, hard-working City employees.”
Once the ceremony is over, attendees will be guided through parts of the main indoor facility to three different locations, where City employees will talk about the space and the work that will be performed there. These spaces include the fleet maintenance, office, and operational shops/indoor vehicle storage areas.
Public parking for this event is in the main employee lot east of the facility, just off Levee Drive (please use the second entrance). The event will conclude by 4:30 p.m.
Divisions that will be migrating their employees, vehicles, equipment, and operations to the JMF over the next month and half are the Public Works Department’s fleet, sewer maintenance, stormwater, street maintenance, utilities, and water distribution divisions, as well as the Parks and Recreation Department’s forestry, horticulture, and park maintenance divisions.
For more information about the $22.5 million Joint Maintenance Facility construction project, please visit the City’s projects webpage.