On the Horizon, New Prospects for Lamar

From public bathrooms to dormitories, there have been some new developments around Lamar which began this spring and will continue through the summer. Here’s a brief look.

North Gateway Park now has a permanent chemical bathroom. This facility had been planned for over a year and is being funded from a grant which will also help finance construction of a permanent shade cover for visitors as well as a handicapped-accessible floating dock for the main pond.  The City of Lamar has already received the dock which has to be assembled and set in place later this summer.  A portion of the shoreline will have to be prepared to provide access to the dock.  There are already several fanny-friendly, posterior-pleasing porta-potties (I took that from Pat Palmer), that will probably remain at the site as they are spread out to cover the 108 acres that make up the park.

Proposed Paint-Body Shop Location

On the western edge of town, some plans are developing to convert an empty building into a paint and body shop. The location is adjacent to County Road 7 and Highway 50.  The plans for renovating the former Colorado East Auto Sales building are before the County Planning Commission.  A vacant building opposite KLMR, also on the highway, is being renovated to accommodate an ambulance service locating in Lamar.  Midwest Medical Med Air plans to operate their transportation services from that site and will be hiring full and part-time employees.

Midwest Medical Med Air Building

Community State Bank is donating funds for the construction of an information sign at the corner of the parking lot for the Lamar Community Building. The electric sign will be about 13 feet tall and will be programmed to display information about community events at the building and most likely around the town.

Under Construction at Lamar Community Building

The metal framework for the newest dormitory at Lamar Community College is up. Construction for the 32 bed facility has been underway since this spring.  The dorm, the first of three, is being funded through the efforts of the college’s Foundation and numerous local donations.  The cost is estimated at $1.2M.  Outgoing LCC President, John Marrin, stated earlier that if there is sufficient funding, the second dorm will be under construction sometime after the completion of the first one.  As a cost-saving move, the infrastructure for the second and third proposed dorms was being built simultaneously with the new facility.  Rental for the dorm is on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Marrin said the fees for the new dorm will be slightly higher than for the current, older dormitories.  He explained that additional dorm space will be a key factor for a larger, full-time student body.

New Dorm Framework as seen from Cafeteria

Future construction projects for the Lamar community include the skateboard park at the northeastern corner of Willow Creek Park, development of the proposed Pocket Park and adjacent parking lot between Shore Arts Center and Daylight Donut, a proposal to re-purpose the county-owned WPA buildings on East Maple Street into a locally run, community corrections facility and of course, the beginning of a long-planned, comprehensive water/wastewater line upgrade and re-surfacing project for Main Street Lamar between Park Street and the Lamar Canal scheduled to begin by October.

By Russ Baldwin