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Members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribe along with some Geary community members, joined together for the ribbon cutting honoring the new Geary Emergency Response Center renovations.
The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes held a ribboncutting ceremony to honor the new renovations for the Geary Emergency Response Center last week.
The Emergency Response Center, located at 132 E. Main St in Geary, was originally branded as a community hall for members of the community to gather for local events.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Geary hall, along with other local tribal halls, has been temporarily rebranded as an Emergency Response Center.
“They're all community halls, and now we're calling them emergency response centers,” Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Emergency Management Director Alan Fletcher said. “When you're in a time of need, we'll set up, provide services, food, shelter, and get you out of the dangerous elements, whether it's tornadoes, a fire, or snow.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Fletcher, the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes’ Lt. Governor Gib Miles, Planning and Development Director Damon Dunbar, lead architect Jason Holuby, and general contractor Tim Flying Out.
During his speech, Miles thought back to the times when members of the community would gather together in the community halls and said he is hopeful to see the hall filled once more as the pandemic begins to subside.
“With this new building starting, there’s going to be new people sitting in those places. Time marches on, but it’s with a heavy heart to think of all of those people who are gone,” Miles said. “Hopefully with a new building, new atmosphere, new excitement, new faces, and the new smiles will wash away some of the pain that I have for my friends that are gone.”
The renovations for the center were done with COVID in mind such as putting in epoxy floors that are easier to clean, stainless steel kitchen equipment, renovated bathrooms, and an air filtration system.
“Everything we have in here was meant to be COVID-related to where we can get everything cleaned and sanitized very easily. As well as being able to socially distance easily as we have here today,” Dunbar said.
Both Flying Out and Holuby also expressed their appreciation and gratitude toward getting to work on this renovation project.
Plans to build an all-new center in Geary continue as the tribe has partnered with the city in an attempt to find open and available land.
“We're pushing forward. We're looking at what we can,” Fletcher said. “The sooner that we can get started the better. We're ready to break ground yesterday.”