Growth in the right direction is always a great thing to see, and be a part of, throughout Clay County, positive growth is visible...if you are paying attention. It’s just hard to see sometimes, given the troubling events of this past year.
Since the July 29 tornado that hit Sutton, and the building collapse in Clay Center in the past nine months, the move in the right direction has been in full gear.
Sutton for instance has some major growth going on. The housing development has seen some major improvements going on just to the east of the Fox Hollow Golf Course. Much of the infrastructure is either in place, or nearing completion, as street development is just around the corner, both in the Schwab Ground development, and soon, the Hickory Street upgrades will be coming (the street located on the north end of the housing development).
Sure, there are still some hang-ups with the area, but hopefully, things will be ironed out, but I do know this, lot pricing is almost set, and progress is good.
The future of the old closed-down Burlington-Northern/SanteFe overpass on the west side of Sutton will be vastly changing. Work to tear down the old wood structure and replace it with a new bypass of the rail line will be in place, which for the past several years (I lost track of how long that overpass has been closed), will once again give Suttonites, and visitors alike, the ability to bypass the tracks and get from the north to south, or vice versa, sides of town much easier.
Look what CPI has brought to the county with the newly constructed Lewis Grain Facility along Highway 14, just to the north of the Highway 6 and 14 intersections in the central part of the county. To me, that is huge to the heavy agriculture-based area that is Clay County.
Progress, although still very frustrating, related to Sutton’s downtown business district, damaged by the July 19, 2023, EF-1 tornado seems to be getting “legs” and moving forward, as several businesses are trying to piece together repairs, and showing signs of some re-opening, at least that is my hope!
Sunday night, during the annual meeting of the Fox Hollow Golf Course, plans were shared to bring a potential new addition to the course, with an effort to expand the Fox Hollow Clubhouse. While nothing is set in stone, feedback from those attending the meeting seemingly had a positive vibe for a possible 60-foot by 40-foot addition on the west side of the current clubhouse to expand the social area, providing more space for events, meetings, and such, while allowing the course to cater to what matters most, those playing golf on the pristine nine-hole course. Kudo’s to the current board for thinking forward, and moving forward with plans to grow with the times! Then of course, there are the current plans to infuse some new life into the Sutton Community Home, and give a facelift to the facility that will turn 60 years old this summer. Being involved in this effort since 2014, as a member of both the SCH Board of Directors, and now solely with the SCH Foundation, this is very exciting, despite a few naysayers that are still negative to the future of our healthcare opportunities in Sutton.
Plans are still building up during the “silent phase” of a capital campaign, but within the next few weeks, the active phase will gear up and action will begin moving forward.
Next week, the Clay County News will begin featuring some weekly information in more detail, about what the construction and renovation will look like for the Sutton Community Home. With the help of so many people, the reality is in the process of putting a “spit shine” on how the facility will be improved, and how the capital campaign will work.
There are a ton of people, far beyond just the two boards that will be involved, with well beyond 25 community members, not on either board stepping up to help get the project moving forward, and the reality of this 10-year vision starts taking place. So to ALL of you, on both boards, and the volunteers that have, and will take part in the Capital Campaign, I say thank you in advance for your interest, and more importantly, your efforts to start making this effort move forward.
The “scratching dirt phase” will hopefully not be to far off. I hope that comes sometime mid to late summer, when progress on the home kicks in.
Positive growth...it IS always great to see!!
