Grant shouldn’t restrict county on fate of boys’ ranch, state says

The state told Sedgwick County a 1960s federal grant should not restrict it when it comes to doing what it wants with the closed Judge Riddel Boys Ranch.

But the Kansas state parks director wants more clarification from the federal government before the county makes any move to sell or repurpose the property.

County commissioners may vote anyway on Wednesday to tear down the former residential center for troubled teens.

A $7,122.50 federal grant partially funded a bathroom at Lake Afton Park in 1966. A federal law placed restrictions on selling or repurposing property developed with that type of funding.

County legal staff members realized this spring that the encumbrance could apply to the entirety of Lake Afton Park, including the boys’ ranch on its southwestern shores.

State Parks Director Linda Lanterman told county officials the property was described as a “home and school” in previous documents. She said that meant the property should not have been included within the park’s boundaries.

“I don’t think it should have been there in the beginning,” she told The Eagle on Tuesday.

But Lanterman urged caution after she talked with the National Park Service on Tuesday.

“When it went to D.C., they said ‘hold on a moment,’ ” she said. “It’s not a no and it’s not a yes.”

County Commissioner Richard Ranzau said the restriction should never have applied to the boys’ ranch property.

“It basically gave up local control of that entire facility if we wanted to build anything or change anything,” he said.

Ranzau wants the restriction lifted for the entire park. Commissioners opposed to demolishing the ranch could move to delay the demolition vote Wednesday.

But other commissioners, who favor demolition regardless of the property’s status, believe it would be too expensive to remodel the ranch.

“The facility needs to come down, and I really believe that we ought to just keep the property as Lake Afton Park ground,” Commission Chairman Dave Unruh said.

But Unruh praised Ranzau for his perseverance and tenacity in pressing the state for answers.

“It just doesn’t make sense that you’d be bound forever,” Unruh said of perpetual restrictions on park land.

Lanterman said the county is absolutely free to demolish the ranch and make it park land. But she said selling or repurposing it is a “different story,” depending on whether the National Park Service thinks the land would need to be converted.

She said she’s gotten calls from those who want to preserve the property and those who want it to be converted back to park land.

“We need to think about the process,” she said.

This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 11:21 AM with the headline "Grant shouldn’t restrict county on fate of boys’ ranch, state says."