By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Visitors to downtown Hays will soon be able to eat German, work out and get a checkup as new businesses make their home on the Bricks.
Sara Bloom, executive director of Downtown Hays Development Corp., talked about what is on the horizon for downtown during a tour with local officials Monday afternoon as a part of the second annual Community Cruise.
Das Essen Hutte, a German eatery owned by the Charlie and Roxane Dorzweiler, is set to reopen any day at 110 W. 11th. The restaurant, which serves homemade German food inspired by classic Volga German recipes, had been located in Big Creek Crossing.
A new CrossFit center will be coming to the former Fire and Ice building at 229 W. 10th.
A new optometrist and dentist office also is going in at the corner of 13th and Main Street at the former All Seasons Heating and Plumbing building. This project will not likely be marketed until this summer with an expected opening sometime this fall.
Something Blue has expanded its business to 1012 Main and will be moving its wedding gowns to that location. The boutique at 1008 Main will be expanded and become Bluetique. Something Blue has had such a large demand for its gowns that it needed more space, Bloom said.
The building at 1012 Main once housed GypsyRose. Purses and jewelry that once were sold at GypsyRose can now be found at Salon Ten O Seven across the street.
Kris and Larissa Munsch are remodeling the home that used to be known as the Tea Rose Inn at 13th and Fort into a hotel. It is now called the Inn at 117. It currently has three suites available. It is not a bed and breakfast, so don’t expect a meal. However, Bloom said the hotel is a convenient walking distance from restaurants and the night life downtown.
“We are very excited. We get calls all of the time asking where people can stay downtown, and we finally have a place we can tell them,” Bloom said.
The tour also made a stop at the Downtown Pavilion. The ribbon cutting for the Downtown Pavilion has been postponed until April 27 because weather has delayed the last of construction on the project. DHDC still plans to use the pavilion for Brews on the Bricks, which is April 7.
Fort Hays State University’s Department of Applied Technology helped design and build the project, which substantially reduced costs.
Sandy Jacobs, a city commissioner who was on the tour, said the project was an excellent collaborative effort. The cost of the project was originally estimated at more than $400,000 and now will cost about $270,000 and be a gift from DHDC to the city of Hays.
The public/private project is funded by DHDC. Financial donations have come from the Robert and Patricia Schmidt Foundation, the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, and community supporters. The pavilion will go back to the city and will be managed as a public park. The public will be able to reserve the area as it does other city facilities.
The Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development also will soon move to 219 W. West 10th. The location will serve as a coworking space targeted to people who’ve been operating a home-based business or working at home. People will pay by the month like a gym membership to have access to office space, office equipment and a conference room.
Aaron White, executive director of the ECC, said he already has interest in the space from an attorney, a software designer and an app designer. He hopes to also work with the entrepreneurial program at Fort Hays State to connect new graduates with resources and keep tech startups in Hays.
“This gives them a place to do teleconferencing, to sit down and meet with a client in more of a professional setting instead of doing it in the living room of their house or at the local coffee shop. This gives them a more professional feel without the upfront costs,” White said.
Members will have 24/7 access. A full membership starts at $150 month. The center is set to open at the end of April.
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