Knowing that in a few years’ time thousands of tourists will be flooding the new Lehigh Portland State Park has a few Iolans anxious about how well-prepared the area is to not only absorb the influx but also how to keep them coming back.
Tourism is an opportunity as well as a challenge, acknowledged participants Wednesday evening in a Community Conversation sponsored by Thrive Allen County.
“We need to be prepared so we’re not overwhelmed when it happens,” said Sharon Moreland, director of Iola Public Library.
Once the park is fully developed — an expectation of several years — the region can expect 250,000 visitors a year, according to Kansas Wildlife and Parks officials.
THE ANNUAL conversation takes the pulse of residents’ concerns.
Last year, a dearth of affordable housing and childcare providers and workforce needs topped the list.
This year, those same issues arose, but in a different context.
Moreland related a story of Pawhuska, Okla., home to the Pioneer Woman kitchen wares retailer and TV show. Once the Pioneer Woman became famous, the housing market went gangbusters, in part from people scooping up homes and flipping them to become Airbnbs, depleting the stock for local families and sending prices soaring.
Pawhuska, population 3,342, lists 14 homes for sale, according to Realtor.com; Iola has 44 on the market.
Lisse Regehr, CEO of Thrive Allen County, noted two hoteliers have contacted her in recent weeks expressing interest in coming to Iola with a state park on the horizon.
Regehr commended city leaders for recently pledging $1.3 million to extend streets and utilities in the Cedarbrook Addition north of Miller Road to accommodate new construction.
The process of turning the three vacated elementary schools by BNIM, a Kansas City-based architecture firm, into apartments is also on track, she said.
Becky Nilges commented on houses in need of repair, “but the people can’t afford to do the work.”
Regehr noted Thrive was awarded a Kansas Rural Preservation grant for such things, “but its amount is not even close to addressing the full scope of our needs.”
Georgia Masterson, a volunteer with Humanity House, echoed Nilges’ concern about affordable housing as well as childcare.
“These are things that make recruiting people to Iola more difficult,” she said. “If there’s no place to live or a facility to take care of their children, they’ll look elsewhere.”
