$43.6 million museum could be coming to Manhattan
MANHATTAN (KSNT) - Local developers are proposing constructing a $43,600,000 "Manhattan Museum of Art and Light" near the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan.
The project, still in the early stages of design, will be paid for using STAR Bonds, a program through the Kansas Department of Commerce meant to pay for major tourism development projects in the state.
Construction on the project is months away according to Jason Hilgers, Deputy City Manager with the City of Manhattan.
"We have got land to transfer, we have zoning, we have a planning and development zoning amendment, we have infrastructure below the site that needs to be relocated," he said. "They have to finalize design, they have to get the design through our code department, so I think we are months away from seeing construction."
Hilgers told KSNT News the project is being developed by Bob and Tracy DeBruyn who own 'The Master Teacher' a Manhattan-based education supply company.
According to documents provided by the City of Manhattan, the 50,000 square foot museum will house interactive displays "unmatched in Kansas and the Midwest."
Currently there is no timeline as to when construction will begin.