Ground broken for Lowell Milken Center expansion

Loretta George/Tribune photo Project contributors help break ground for the expansion of the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes at Main and Wall streets Thursday morning. Pictured from left: Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lindsay Madison; Beth Nuss, who was a mentor on the project; Fort Scott Economic Director Heather Griffith; Lowell Milken Center Program Director Megan Felt; LMC Executive Director Norm Conard; LMC Director of Funding Ashley Rogers; Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin; Fort Scott Mayor Cindy Bartelsmeyer; Chief Executive Officer of A.L. Huber Contracting, August Huber; and Claire Ashbrook with Susan Richards Johnson and Associates-the architects of the project.

The face of Fort Scott, its downtown district, is seeing change.

On Thursday, the Lowell Milken Center (LMC) celebrated the groundbreaking of a new facility directly across the street from its current office at Main and Wall Street.

Norm Conard, executive director of the LMC, said in a later interview, "I could hear the hammers at the Scottish Rite in the background while people were speaking. Things are happening in Fort Scott."

In addition to the Scottish Rite Temple renovation into apartments on Main Street, last week the Sleep Inn Hotel, on Wall Street, hosted the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce coffee for viewing that facility, which opened for guests this week.

The new 6,000 square foot LMC building's construction is likely to start in November, and is slated for completion next summer, Conard said. It is an expansion for the LMC.

"We are proud that it's expanding and growing," Conard said. "Our vision is to have an impact on American education...to have a center where we feature unsung heroes who are role models for our young people."

3,000 square feet of the new expansion is for exhibiting unsung hero stories.

"In April 2007, the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes was formally established as an initiative of the Lowell Milken Family Foundation," Mayor Cindy Bartlesmeyer told the crowd assembled for the ceremony. "In August 2007 the center opened its offices in Fort Scott under the leadership of Norm Conard and Megan Felt, a former teacher and student who together embody the power of education...I speak for our community when I say we are looking forward to your expansion in our great city."

Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Lindsay Madison, welcomed the addition to downtown and said "it will take us in a positive direction."

Since its inception in 2007, LMC has reached over 1,000,000 students and 7,320 schools in all 50 states, according to an LMC press release. "In addition, LMC's Fort Scott headquarters has hosted visitors from every state and 68 countries...The LMC unsung hero exhibits and student performances are a favorite for group tour itineraries organized by the Chamber."

The Lowell Milken Center Fellowship Program attracts award-winning educators for a summer program of professional development, and has grown from one LMC Fellow in 2008 to over 30 in 2015, according to the release.