Blythe Foundation to leave a legacy of fitness for Pratt

After years of planning and countless hours of negotiations, a new recreation facility is about to become a reality in Pratt.

The Roy and Elsie Blythe Foundation has been the driving force behind the Blythe Fitness Facility that will be located on South Iuka between West Fifth and West Sixth streets on the east side of Iuka and across the street south of Pratt High School, according to a press release from the Blythe Foundation.

“They (Blythe Foundation) is thrilled this project will come to fruition,” said Zach Deeds project coordinator.

Discussions between Leon and Kristina Kaufman of Bodies Elite and the Blythe Foundation are positive, encouraging and on-going. Announcements about management will be made later.

The Pratt City Commission gave approval for the abandonment of Iuka Street from Fifth Street to Sixth Street at the commission meeting Monday night. The proposed building is 37,000 square feet and comes to the edge of the street, Deeds said at the commission meeting.

A mezzanine area adds an additional 8,000 to 9,000 square feet to the tall one-story building. The building is 40 feet high with eight feet of that below ground level.

The project was contingent abandoning Iuka for one block. A building has to have an easement so the city agreed to abandon that one block of Iuka for project development.

The first phase of the project is demolition of the houses and leveling the lots. The property purchased includes seven properties and eight houses. A house on west side of the street is also part of the property.

The Pratt County Historical Society has acquired several architectural items from the houses and the Pratt Fire Department has used some of the houses for training exercises.

The plans for the building include two basketball/volleyball courts, an indoor tennis court, a flex court for a variety of uses, two racquetball courts, a walking track, aerobic and strength training areas as well as restrooms, office, commons and a viewing room.

Demolition of the houses is scheduled to start at the beginning of June with construction following demolition. The basic building should be complete around Labor Day with interior finish work taking place in the fall and winter.

The building is the result of years of research, planning and negotiations. Originally, a facility was planned for a combination of the Municipal Building, the Hotel Parrish and the adjoining space but after much analysis it was determined that combination would be of limited benefit to the community.

“We did our homework and it just wasn’t going to work,” said Zach Deeds, project coordinator.

A search began for an alternate solution. The group did extensive surveys over eight years. They looked at recreation facilities in other communities to discover what worked best for them, Deeds said.

After years of work, the foundation decided on and purchased the Iuka Street properties. This put the facility near Pratt High School, Liberty Middle School and the downtown business district. This location is an important first step in meeting the needs and wishes of Pratt citizens for better physical conditioning in the twenty first century.

The use of the building can change in the future so flexibility is important. The foundation considered many services and programs to determine the building configuration that would make the best use of finances and is the most beneficial to a broad spectrum of people.

The Americans With Disabilities Act and a cost benefit analysis limited the potential activities in the building. An indoor pool and the necessary air handling system would cost significantly more resources then the foundation has available now so a swimming pool is not included in this phase. 

The building will be in memory of Roy and Elsie Blythe, Pratt County residents for substantially all of the Twentieth Century. They had three children, Velma, Loren and Marlen and five grandchildren. Their lives centered around family, church and community. Roy was lay minister all his adult life.

Elsie was born Elsie Evans and raised her sisters on an 80-acre farm a mile north of Pratt. She earned a nurses cap from the Ninnescah Hospital.

Roy arrived in Pratt in 1927 and got a job at The Peoples Bank as a bookkeeper just three months before he was to graduate from the Salt City Business College in Hutchinson. Roy was born and raised on a farm in western Kansas and decided that farming was a risky business, particularly in the early 1920s, and decided to become an accountant or tradesman.

At the bank he oversaw the hiring of more bookkeepers and witnessed the transition from hand ledgers to computers. He helped Loren Moore establish trust department in 1932 and managed the department for four decades. He was senior teller during World War II and supervised the tellers for 30 years.

Roy was an active loan officer for half a century, a director for over 60 years and Chairman of the Board for a quarter century.

He was also a fitness devotee. At age 80 he carried his golf clubs at Green Valley golf course while others in his foursome would ride in golf carts, according to the press release.

After administering trusts for many years he established the Blythe Family Trust at The Peoples Bank to insure son Marlen would receive support to stay at Parkwood Village the rest of his life.

The Roy and Elsie Blythe Foundation will now provide current and future generations of Pratt area residents a place to develop healthy habits through physical exercise and conditioning.

“Physical fitness and health should be a priority in ones life,” Deeds said. “Providing opportunity should be priority of a community.”