Committee advances $600,000 bill to develop master plan for Quindaro Ruins; landowner seeks explicit role

Senate Bill 290 would appropriate $600,000 from the state general fund to the Kansas State Historical Society to produce a scope statement, issue a request for proposals and develop a master plan for the Quindaro Ruins archaeological park in Wyandotte County, with no less than $250,000 required to produce the scope and RFP and the remainder available for implementing phase‑one renovations, reviser Jesse Pringle told the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Senator David Haley, who spoke in support of the bill, told the committee the state needs a neutral professional entity to lead a cohesive master plan for the site, which he said is historically significant to Wyandotte County. "I think probably everyone here knows what Quindaro is, what the history is, how meaningful it is," Haley said.

Reverend Stacy Evans, chairperson of the Western University Association of the…