Moving Day

eXIT on hold for historic office

By David Bowser
Correspondent

CHANNING — Plans to move a historic building from here to Lubbock have been put on hold, at least until the end of the month.

Photo by David Bowser Move on Hold: Efforts are afoot to keep the historic office in Channing.

In March, Lenny Sadler, president of Amarillo-based Ditch Witch of West Texas, who owns a ranch near Channing, announced his intention to move the historic XIT office building from Channing to the Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock.

He said he had found no one in Channing willing to maintain the building, constructed on the community's Main Street in 1898, or to keep it open to the public.

Frank Davis, superintendent of schools here, said he was unaware of the project until just days before a contract was to be signed with a company that specializes in moving historic structures.

"I had no idea," Davis said. "I had not heard anything about the possible move."

Davis said he met with Sadler and Jim Pfluger, executive director of the Ranching Heritage Center.

That culminated with Davis and Hartley County Judge Ronnie Gordon meeting with Sadler in late April.

"There's a group of us that are trying to come up with a plan that will be satisfactory to the current owner and the Ranching Heritage Center to see if we can't keep it here. There's lots of historic value in it," Gordon said, adding he understands that more people might see it at the Ranching Heritage Center, but that it would lose a lot of its historic value if it were moved.

"We've got until June the first to come up with a plan to see if they would approve it," Gordon said. "He wants it to be owned by someone up here. We don't know who that's going to be yet. It could be our local historical commission. They could own it."

To keep the building in Channing, Sadler has insisted on a price of $100,000 and a $2 million endowment to maintain it.

Sadler wants the building preserved, used for educational purposes and open to the public. He said that someone would need to be in charge of keeping the building open and maintained.

Davis and Gordon called a meeting at the courthouse that brought in 35 people from Channing to discuss keeping the historic building in Channing.

"It was a nice turnout to be a quickly announced meeting," Davis said.

The reason it was so quickly organized, he said, was that Stan Graves with the Texas Historical Commission was in Goodnight on another project and agreed to come to Channing for the citizens meeting.

"We went ahead and made it convenient for him," Davis said.

Davis said the first challenge that the community faces is coming up with a plan that will satisfy Sadler and the Ranching Heritage Center.

If the plan meets their requirements, then the community needs to raise money for the project.

"The Texas Historical Commission has already offered $30,000 to $50,000 in emergency funds to save the building," Davis said.

They've also offered to help explore getting grants to maintain the building and expertise in restoring it and maintaining it.

"If we get ahold of the building, then we'll start the process of applying for grants," Davis said.

He said they are also seeking people with a vested interest in the local history.

"People who have a great passion for history about this area," Davis said.

He said another great challenge will be marketing the building.

Davis said it is hard to make the public aware of the value of history, the cost of preserving it and when it is open to the public.

The stipulations he has put on the sale of the building are difficult, Sadler said.

"I want them to have to work hard, and not just say, ‘Well, now we've got it. Now, we can sit back and let it rot.'"

The most important condition is the building ownership will revert to Sadler if the times and conditions aren't met.

He said he hopes that keeps the pressure on them to restore the building and keep it open to the public. It might seem harsh, but when he met with Davis and Gordon, they seemed agreeable to the stipulations.

Sadler said he would present their plan to the Ranching Heritage Center at its executive committee meeting June 7.

Sadler said he had donated the building to the Ranching Heritage Center because he knew they would take care of it and keep it open to the public. Keeping the building in Channing, however, is another matter. He said that if the people of Channing want to keep the building, they need to take ownership of it.

"I know from my personal experience that when I've invested money in something, I guarantee you that I worked awfully hard to make sure that it worked out," Sadler said.

He said he feels that if the group in Channing invests their money in it, then they can make it work.

"I'm proud of them," Sadler said. "I don't want people to think that I'm upset that this group's getting together. I'm thrilled about it. I hope they can get it done."

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Posted: May 15, 2008