Greensburg’s recovery from the May tornado is getting some help from an Emporia-area maker of manufactured houses.
KanBuild, which has its headquarters in Osage City and an office in Lebo, has an office in Greensburg to help with the community’s rebuilding.
Much of Greensburg still bears evidence of the May devastation. More than 90 percent of the town was destroyed by the tornado. But signs of re-building are evident, with companies like KanBuild helping residents start over.
KanBuild has had an office in the town for several months, said Ryan Scott, the company’s sales and marketing manager. It was only recently, though, that the company was able to move the office from a camper to a KanBuild model home.
“It’s essentially sitting there by itself,” Scott said. “There’s literally nothing else around it. I think we’re probably the first house in town, actually.”
The KanBuild house sits on a leased lot on the west side of Greensburg, Scott said.
“We are set up to do operations out there,” Scott said. “We’re actively working with different people and selling homes to them out there.”
Scott said the company is taking a “green” concept when building new homes in Greensburg.
“(Environmentally friendly housing) is a big movement in new-home construction,” Scott said, and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ declared intention to rebuild Greensburg, “green” made national news.
As a result, Scott said the company began checking into the guidelines to be certified as a green home builder. KanBuild homes are known for being energy efficient, Scott said, adding that many customers say they pay considerably less in utilities, even in larger homes.
But, isn’t not only about energy efficiency, he added. It’s also about using renewable resources and eliminating waste. Many of those KanBuild already does.
“After checking on the Green Built guidelines, we found ourselves ready to qualify as a bronze level green builder using our standard specifications,” Scott said.
With the certification, staff and building in place, KanBuild is ready to go. Scott said financing is one of the keys to rebuilding in Greensburg. Many people are eligible for assistance. Scott said KanBuild intends to be in Greensburg as long as it takes to re-build the town.
“We try to work with them and give them any documentation (they need),” he said.
Scott said many people have shown interest in the homes, but are holding off for now.
“We have sold a couple of homes out there,” he said. “I think the initial enthusiasm has been counter-balanced by reality.”
Many of the residents are waiting to see what happens before they commit to rebuilding. Some residents waited to see if they’d have a grocery store. (They will. Dillon’s has said it will rebuild itas GReensburg store.) Businesses are waiting to see if they could have a store off the highway.
“That also held off some zoning things for the city,” Scott said. “It’s a slow process. But I think it’s starting to gain some momentum.”
Scott said in the days immediately following the tornado, the town looked like a war zone.
“To a certain extent, it is like that today,” he said.
Scott said it was only a week ago that they were able to get power to the Greensburg office.
The only shops in town now are a convenience store, a liquor store and a couple of restaurants that are working out of make-shift buildings.
“There really is no community there to speak of,” Scott said.
What has been progressing is the Co-op office, which has been rebuilt. State, federal and local governments are operating in Greensburg and there are many residents living in FEMA trailers, coined “Femaville” by many local residents.
“You can definitely see that things are happening from Day One to now,” Scott said. “I think we all would like to see it happen faster for the people in Greensburg.”
admireed (anonymous) says...
Good for KanBuild. They make a quality product. Small town Kansas helping small town Kansas!
August 29, 2007 at 2:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )