a master’s degree,” explains City Manager Mark Westhoff. This distinction stems from the arrival of Benedictine monks and sisters around the Civil War era, who established multiple educational institutions including what became Benedictine College. The college now serves as the city’s largest employer and ranks as one of its top tourism draws, hosting over 1,900 full-time students along with numerous retreats, parent weekends, and special events throughout the year. Mayor La Rochelle Young emphasizes the city’s remarkable historical legacy: “We had the very fortunate opportunity to have Dr. Wangari Maathai, who was also a Nobel Peace Prize winner, educated at Benedictine when it was Mount St. Scholastica College.” The city also boasts a connection to Abraham Lincoln, who visited in December 1859 to test portions of what would become his famous Cooper Union speech.Atchison claims Amelia Earhart as its most famous resident, with her birthplace serving as a cornerstone of local tourism alongside the recently opened Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum at the municipal airport. DOWNTOWN RESURGENCE: FROM WALKING MALL TO WALKABLE STREETS Atchison’s downtown transformation is a counterintuitive approach to urban revitalization that has yielded unexpected results. The city’s 2021 comprehensive plan centered on converting a pedestrian walking mall back into a functioning street.“By getting rid of the walking mall, we actually increased the foot traffic to those businesses because now they’re easier to reach by car and then walk to the various businesses,” Westhoff explains. The project added over 100 new parking spaces to Commercial Street while updating storefronts and facades along the corridor. The centerpiece of this downtown renewal was the renovation and upgrade of the historic Fox Theatre, which is now an entertainment anchor for the district. Mayor Young notes the community’s positive response: “Citizens really do enjoy the increased walkability of the mall. They enjoy the increased entertainment value with the theatre, and it has been a welcome change that really serves to revitalize our downtown.” The Commercial Street renovation was coupled with improvements on Main Street utilizing Kansas’s STAR Bond System which generate over $20 million in private investment within the designated district The city maintains momentum through ongoing facade grants for businesses along Main Street and Commercial Street corridors. Atchison’s downtown benefits from abundant available commercial space, a legacy of ambitious 1950s planning that projected higher population growth than materialized. “We have a large downtown area for the size of our city,” Westhoff observes, noting that this surplus creates 21 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 09 ATCHISON, KS
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