City jumps hoops for Old Stoney

The Crook County Museum District (CCMD) is taking another crack at securing the money to finish Old Stoney. According to Mayor Paul Brooks, it's not a moment too soon.

At last week's meeting, the Sundance City Council passed a resolution to apply for funding through the Wyoming Business Council (WBC) as a "pass-through" agency for the Crook County Museum District (CCMD).

If approved, the money will be used to finish the top floor of the building, returning it to its original use as an auditorium, and to offer up any matching funds that prove necessary.

"All of our hearts bleed for Old Stoney and we all want to see it finished, but we also need the funds in order to do that," said Andrea Wood, CCMD Trustee, at the meeting.

"Without this, honestly, it's an insurmountable task. You're talking about decades of volunteer work and fundraising to even put a dent in what this one grant will do."

While applying for state funding for a project is an oft-repeated process for a small city, this particular attempt has been far from simple.

The money, says Mayor Paul Brooks, has been promised before.

CCMD originally secured the city's support to apply for a WBC grant in 2022. At that point, says the mayor, things appeared to be working as intended.

"When we went for Old Stoney the first time, they said it would take their whole quarterly funding to finish Old Stoney., so they wanted us to take half and then [they could] use half for other projects that were before them," Brooks recalls. "They said at that point: please come back."

Brooks isn't sure how it happened, "But somehow or other, they came to the point that they said, 'We told you not to come back'."

Brooks is adamant that this is not the case, and says he has reached out to three people who were seated WBC board members at the time. Their recollections match his own.

However, even if the current WBC board had recalled things the same way, there was another problem.

"In the meantime, the criteria changed. Now we have to quantify the economic impact in the town of Sundance of Old Stoney," he says.

"I'm sure there's a statistical way to do it, but we don't have the intellectual capability or the depth of staff to try to produce such a number."

It's the oldest open project in front of the WBC and was the cover slide for their presentations for years, Brooks says, and the city is keen to see it done and dusted.

"We need to finish it. Everybody says that maybe we can get enough donations to finish it, but over half the donations are going to the heat because we have an entire floor of the building that isn't weather tight. So, in fact, we are pumping heat out of the building every day," Brooks says.

And so, at that point, the city and CCMD began working with Senator Ogden Driskill to find the money.

"Senator Driskill spent some time working with the Joint Appropriations Committee and the WBC to come up with some criteria to get money to complete Old Stoney," the mayor says.

The senator's efforts appear to have been successful. The money was issued through a new program called the Community Facility Rehabilitation Grant Program.

As described in this year's appropriation bill, the $2.8 million that was appropriated this year was opened for anyone meeting the following criteria:

"The preservation of former school facilities as community centers, provided that the expenditure is for facilities that are included on the National Park Service's national register of historic places or as a national historic landmark in a city or town with a population of less than 1500 that has received funding or technical assistance from the WBC for the preservation of a former school facility as a community center."

The program is now open and accepting applications until June 15.

At last week's meeting, the council hosted a public hearing for the resolution and heard from nine individuals who wanted to express their support.

Some were involved in the renovations, such as Pam Thompson, who commented, "I moved here 20 years ago and I've been working on it ever since." Others were members of the public, such as Kelly Carter, who said, "I think it's an asset to Sundance."

City Attorney Mark Hughes meanwhile spoke as a member of the Wyoming Transportation Commission.

"I've always wanted to have a meeting of the commission in Sundance but there's really nowhere to have it. I have three years left on my six-year term, I'm hoping we can get the building finished in the three years so I can have a meeting in Sundance before I retire," he said, to a round of applause and cries of "here here" from the room.

Wood, again present on behalf of CCMD, offered her own comment.

"Old Stoney has oftentimes been referred to as the crown jewel of Crook County and I don't think that's far off, so let's sure we can make that crown be as bright and shiny as we can," she said.

Wood was also able to confirm that CCMD is able to provide $91,000 of the potential matching funds, which come to $120,000.

Brooks is unsure whether a match will be needed.

"We have put up a match because the WBC has once again changed its criteria behind the scenes," he says. "Even though we're not really supposed to have to put up a match, we're prepared to put up a match so they don't come back and say they changed their mind."

The resolution passed unanimously.