Greensburg Dedicates Dillons, Looks to Future

February 11, 2009

It's not everyday the Governor, the Homeland Security Secretary and people, packed shoulder to shoulder, show up for the opening of a grocery store.

Govenor Kathleen Sebelius told the crowd, "The Greensburg model will be built across this country and you should feel very proud of that...that's a good thing."

Dillons officially dedicated their new "green" grocery store in Greensburg on Wednesday. But for people in the community, the building is more than bricks and mortar, it's a sign of how far they've come.

"Our town is finally coming together again," said Heather Flowers. And the proof of that, is all around them. For a town named Greensburg you see a lot of construction orange, but city leaders say it just means there's more progress on the way.

"This year is a busy year, a lot of construction, neat stuff is really happening," says City Administrator Steve Hewitt.

Here's the quick run-down. The business incubator on Highway 54 is expected to be open in a only a few weeks. It's a place businesses can move into while rebuilding.

Main street will go from dirt to driveable by the end of the summer. That's around the same time city leaders will move into their new city hall.

A little further down the line, Greensburg's new hospital is expected to open by then end of 2009 and the new school should open its doors in August of 2010.

"It's been 18, 20 months of lots of planning but now you're starting to see the results of that planning come forward," adds Hewitt.

From barricades to buildings, hazards to history. Less than two years after a tornado tore through town, people say they're already at a place they wondered if they would ever get to again.

"We were so depressed we couldn't dream of us coming back," says Greensburg resident, Bob Mosier.

But it's as clear as the new courthouse windows, people now feel they're well on their way.

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