If Allen County commissioners are serious about investing in economic development, they’ll maintain financial support for the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
The county currently provides about $200,000 annually to the Bowlus through a dedicated mill levy. At Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners seemed to question the return on their investment. (Allen County’s 2026 budget is $24.9 million.)
Since opening in 1964, the Bowlus has been one of the region’s crown jewels, a unique venue that has attracted visitors for generations. Bowlus director Mandy Moyer noted that in this season alone, visitors from 10 states and over 60 ZIP codes have attended Bowlus events.
Commissioners would be hard-pressed to find a venue in Allen County with a similar reach.
And because of the Bowlus’ incredible facilities, diverse programming, and dedicated staff, guests inevitably leave our community impressed by what it has to offer. “Who’d have thought it?” they ask, marveling at how a stunning performing arts center with a 700+ seat auditorium is tucked away in little ole Iola.
These are the visitors we want: the ones who head back to Wichita talking about the wonderful show they saw. The couple from Kansas City who come back, year after year, and end up falling in love with a quiet home outside Moran. The theatre professor who takes a job at Allen Community College after realizing Iola has just what she was looking for.
The Bowlus brings visitors who, driving up from Broken Arrow, stop at Union Works in Humboldt for dinner before a show. They may spend the night, fill up with gas, and grab breakfast before leaving town the next day.
In a crash course on economic development, venues like the Bowlus are required reading.
WHAT DOES a Bowlus Fine Arts Center with less support look like?
Easy: Fewer people walking through its doors, fewer programs and performances for the public to enjoy, and an institution without the funds needed to maintain a world-class facility.
It looks like fewer cars in the parking lot. Four states in Moyer’s ticket system instead of 10. Fewer people talking about the wonderful little town in Allen County where they spent the weekend. They’ll go somewhere else instead. And they’ll take their wallets with them.
In talks for putting a proposed sales tax increase on the ballot, commissioners have said spending from out-of-towners should support Emergency Medical Services. Reducing support to one of our county’s best attractions pulls the rug from underneath that argument.
COMMUNITIES in general, and economic development in particular, require investment.
Just as the commission devoted millions of dollars to water and sewer infrastructure at the Allen County airport to attract investors. Just as Iola’s City Council recently approved millions more in repairing U.S. 54. Just as USD 257 taxpayers voted in 2019 to invest in a new elementary school, or last fall, when Allen County voters said yes to continue paying a sales tax to support the hospital.
The list goes on. We need good roads, jobs, healthcare and schools. These are things we cannot buy as individuals. A billionaire can’t build himself a private highway for his daily commute — not yet anyway.
In April 2018, John Brocker and Jerry Daniels, the very same men who serve on our commission today, were the first and second votes to establish the mill levy to support the Bowlus.
