Mayor explains plans for Skylon Ballroom

Citizens of Hartington and supporters of a community event center: You will see a public notice to purchase a renovated Skylon for an event center in the paper this week. We would like to let everyone know how this came about.

It took the generosity of a few folks to make this happen. Thank you Bill Yates for allowing Plumbing & Electric to purchase some land from you in exchange for the possibility of preserving a new and improved Skylon in a new location.

Thank you Roger Wortmann for funding the moving and renovation of the new Skylon event center.

We will be able to make lease & principle payments to Roger over the next seven years and all those payments will be applied to the note to eventually pay off the purchase and we won’t need a bond to do so.

Thank you to our Economic Development group for providing the plot of land that the new Skylon will take new residence.

Thank you to the many potential donors who have reached out and are willing to make a commitment to saving the Skylon.

You may be asking how can we go forward with the Skylon project.

Almost 20 years ago the community of Hartington decided to build and fund the construction of our sports complex. Our sports complex is the envy of many small communities in Cedar County. This investment in Hartington brings many people to our town to enjoy the recreation opportunities in Hartington.

The bond payments have been approximately $150,000 per year. We have two more payments of $50,000 in December of this year and December of 2025 and then the sports complex will be paid off.

We will be shifting those tax dollars to make a lease payment for the Skylon Event Center for the first year. Those payments will be credited to the loan for the eventual purchase of the Skylon the following year. We will pay off the loan from Roger Wortmann in year seven, and borrow the remaining $300,000 to be paid off in the next two years. The City of Hartington will be able to purchase the Skylon in nine years instead of 20 and not need a bond with a tax levy.

We looked very closely at the possibility of building a new event center.

Our projections would be in the $4 million range. We would also be without an event center for at least two years if the bond would pass and possibly longer (if at all).

We would still need to gain enough support to fund an event center at that price which we feel is not certain. We feel the Skylon project is our most cost-effective option and we will be preserving an iconic building that will look great after the renovation.

Hartington has never been a community that takes a step back. If we lose our event center we are taking a step back.

Hartington is a community that is progressive. We want to be the best.

We feel this project will keep Hartington moving forward and remain the best choice to do business, build a home, raise a family, educate your children, worship, enjoy great recreation opportunities and enjoy life.

We kindly ask for your support to make Hartington great. We will have more information for potential donors who want to support this project at a later date.

— Mayor Mark Becker and the Hartington City Council