Students Partner with Ellsworth, Kansas, to Preserve its Western Heritage

Today a beautiful, historical building sits vacant in the business district of Ellsworth, Kansas. Originally constructed in 1887, it was built to accommodate the economic boom following America's western expansion. Now the building is one of few remaining landmarks representing the town's founding era.

Ellsworth, established in 1867, was a railhead and final destination for Texan drovers herding cattle across the Great Plains. Early settlers attracted seedy saloons, wild women and violent duels, earning Ellsworth the nickname "Wickedest Town in the West."

Since then, people have come and gone in and out of the small Kansas settlement, and over time, the historical buildings have deteriorated or been replaced. Concerned citizens, such as Jim Gray, fear the memories will soon go, too.

Gray and a group of community volunteers are determined not to let Ellsworth's history fade away. Their audacious goal is to preserve the desolate building and turn it into the National Drovers Hall of Fame Museum, with help from Kansas State University's industrial and manufacturing systems engineering (IMSE) department.

"I told students this is true American history," said John Wu, IMSE associate professor. "Projects like this don't usually come to engineering."

Wu was contacted by the Ellsworth committee in spring 2015 to help with interior space planning. He directed them to Shuting Lei, IMSE professor and undergraduate instructor for the Industrial Facility Layout and Design class. Intrigued, Lei decided to turn the project into a class assignment.

"In April, John Wu and I took 18 students to visit the building in Ellsworth," Lei said. "Right away we could see that this unique collaboration would enable students to apply lessons learned from their IE curriculum."

Lei split the group into teams of four and over the next two months challenged them to design at least two layouts for the future museum. Traffic flow, office location, storage space, code regulation and handicap accessibility were a few major items needing consideration. Students used computer software to design the space and then applied relationship charts to rank and identify the best option. Their findings were presented to the Ellsworth committee at the end of the semester as their final class project.

"We were overwhelmed by the student's enthusiasm for the project and thoroughly impressed by their very professional presentations," Gray said.

Gray and his committee will look over each presentation and select the most optimal option based on practicality and cost. They will use the chosen layout to communicate their vision to potential donors, which is the next step in their goal to revitalize Ellsworth's western heritage.

"Preserving a historical building is a project that will far exceed our student's time at K-State," Lei said. "It was a unique assignment, but one I'm sure they will remember and be proud of."

If you or your company is interested in collaborating with a group of IMSE students, please contact Brad Kramer at bradleyk@k-state.edu or 785-532-5606.