Construction down this year, city building inspector says
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
The number of Hillsboro houses and businesses under construction dropped off quite a bit this year, according to Kermit Dirksen, building inspector for the city of Hillsboro.
Dirksen, who has been the city inspector for three years, said that so far this year, the city has issued 73 building permits for construction jobs. In 2000, Hillsboro issued 94 building permits.
"2000 was the high year," Dirksen said.
To date, the city has given four permits for commercial remodeling. Three are currently under construction, and one is completed.
In 2000, Hillsboro granted 12 permits for commercial construction, which included the new post office, the China Buffet restaurant, and expansion at Hillsboro Industries.
In the area of residential permits, though, 2001 outclassed the year 2000. Fifteen permits were given this year, compared to last year's six.
But according to Dirksen, 1999 was the big year in terms of dollar value. Although only 58 permits total were distributed that year, almost three and a half million dollars were spent on that year's project.
That's because of a great deal of construction out at the Hillsboro Heights, he said.
In 1999, the Sonic Drive-In, Dollar General, and Country Haven Motel were all constructed at Hillsboro Heights, which is next to U.S.-56.
Also in that year, Barkman Honey spent $750,000 in expanding its current facilities, according to city data.
The new construction "upped our dollar status enormously," Dirksen said.
All told, $3,325,000 was spent that year in both residential and commercial construction. The total spent for 2000 was $2,150,500, and in 2001, that number has dropped to $1,897,000.
Why the big boom in 1999? It was the result of years of work, Dirksen said.
"A development like that doesn't happen fast," he said. Years of promotion from city officials such as Carol Wiebe convinced the new businesses to open up, he said.
But now, things have slowed down commercially — and consequently, they've slowed down residentially, as well.
"As the economy is right now, there's probably not a lot looking to build," Dirksen said.
But if you talk to local builders, they have no complaints.
Sherry Kunkel of Kunkel Construction says that their business is going well right now. They've got three projects going in Hillsboro: two new homes and one remodeling project.
Other local contractors also say that business has been good.
"We've been very busy," said Vince Jantz, of Jantz Construction out of Tampa. "We're snowed under."
Jantz currently has three projects under in Hillsboro — two homes in the Carriage Hills development, and the remodeling of the future Central National Bank branch on North Main Street.
But Jantz isn't oblivious to the hardships of his fellow contractors in the business.
He's heard from other contractors in the area — from places like Newton, Wichita, and McPherson — and the slow market has been tough on them, he said.
