Shawnee County outlines terms for Beacon to manage Great Overland Station; final lease to return to commissioners

Shawnee County commissioners on Thursday reviewed a near-final management lease that would let Beacon, a local event-management company, operate the historic Great Overland Station while the county retains the museum and certain facilities.

County councilor Rich Eckert explained details of the draft lease at the Aug. 28 Shawnee County Board of County Commissioners work session, saying Beacon would manage day-to-day bookings, staff, food service and event setup under a term the county and Beacon negotiated. "We're gonna enter into a 5 year term," Eckert said, and he added the company "are in it to make money. I don't want to disguise that at all." He said Beacon would use its calendar software and Beacon bookings would take priority over county requests.

The proposal would give Beacon 60% of gross revenue and the county 40%. The split would be reviewed 18 months after operations begin; if the parties cannot agree to a new split then, the 60/40 arrangement would remain in effect for the remainder of the…