"Did You Know This About Geary County History?”
By Dr. Ferrell Miller
Geary County Historical Society Board Member
“The Municipal Building in 1949”
The Junction City Union newspaper in February of 1949 reported that the Municipal Building, located at 700 N. Jefferson Street had seen heavy use during the previous year. An estimated 53,840 persons utilized the city auditorium and other meeting room facilities during 1948. This information was contained in an annual report on the use of the building tabulated by the City Manager Elder Gunter. Over half of that number of persons attended the 172 meetings and events slated in the auditorium and receipts from use of that portion of the building came to $3,490.37.
The area most often in use in 1948 was the lower lounge, which had an average of nearly two meetings a day for a total of 525 for the year. Many lodges, civic groups, clubs and organizations used the Municipal Building as a regular meeting place for weekly or monthly meetings, the report stated.
It also noted that the city auditorium, during the prior year, had been used for five conventions, two circuses, the harvest festival, 4-H shows, concerts and the community Christmas Festival. It was the site of business shows, graduation exercises and teen-age dances. During the basketball season the auditorium was used almost daily, both after school and at night for both ball games and practice sessions.
In addition to these, the building accommodated the USO in the basement and offices for Veterans Affairs and Soil Conservation Agency, the Kansas Employment Service and recreation space for the elderly.
The report concluded with the observation that the building was then nearly ten years old and this heavy use had certainly justified its construction.
"An Explosion in the Milford High School Gymnasium”
The explosion of an overhead butane gas heater was blamed for a fire, which destroyed the Milford High School Gymnasium in February of 1961. The fire was discovered about 11:00 in the evening after several Milford residents had heard an explosion. However, they did not realize the source of the blast.
Principal Lew Wallace said the Butler type building, constructed in 1954 at a cost of $65,000.00 was believed to be a total loss. Most of the contents in the gym including athletic gear and 500 permanent seats were all destroyed. Members of the Milford fire department, as well as many other Milford residents fought the fire in near zero temperatures for about four hours. The gym was a separate building from the structure which housed the high school classrooms, and the fire did not damage those.
City and school officials publicly thanked volunteers, especially the military men in the community for their help. Many handled water hoses for up to three-quarters of an hour without relief. Ladies of the community provided hot coffee and food for the volunteers.
Since the fire was before school unification, Milford school officials received offers from both the Junction City school system and St. Xavier’s Catholic Schools to make available their facilities for future athletic events. The gym was never repaired and the high school was razed within three years to make way for Milford Lake.