By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Cottonwood Falls will get new housing and preservation of a historic building in one fell swoop with $1 million in grant money and tax credits from the Kansas Housing Corp.

A project to renovate the town’s 1903 elementary school into 10 apartments received a $650,000 grant for moderate income housing and another $350,000 in investor tax credits.

The grant targets rural areas in the state.

Brothers Luke and Tyler Holloman, who own Manhattan-based Frontier Management Co., will oversee renovation and manage the property after residents move in.

When renovation will begin depends on when final plans are approved by Kansas State Historical Society.

“It’s already on the historical registers, so we are waiting on approval from the state,” Tyler Holloman said. “We already had a preliminary review. We just haven’t submitted for formal approval.”

City clerk Bree Larkin said the 10-member Chase County ‘Old School’ Development District spearheaded efforts to save the elementary school.

The elementary school was expanded in 1915 and again in 1962.

The school closed in 2010 when the district consolidated middle school and high school students into a single building and moved elementary students to the former middle school. The building has been vacant since.

After the school closed, a 10-member board formed a non-profit organization to save and develop the three-story limestone building with a covered porch.

Cottonwood Falls needs both more housing and more rental housing, Larkin said.