The Value of Creativity
Like many rural towns in Kansas, the population of Lucas has been declining since World War II. As agriculture became more mechanized and reliant upon technology, farmers no longer needed the slew of farm hands they once did. The ripple effect on towns that formerly serviced those farm hands was devastating. Their customer base shrank. Businesses closed, leaving small towns with excess infrastructure. If buildings don't have a use, the maintenance costs can't be justified. Shrinking towns with decaying infrastructure remind locals daily that the economy doesn't work for them the way it formerly did. If urban areas seem booming with technological advances, one can certainly understand the frustration and grumpiness which comes with economic stagnation in some rural areas. Imagine what it would feel like when family members and friends abandon you and your town for the bright lights of cities.
The town of Lucas had a population of 648 in 1940 and is currently around 332. So in the last 84 years almost half of its population has departed in one way or another. Yet the town had the spunk and energy to raise over $100,000 and marshal countless hours of volunteer help to create the Lucas Bowl Plaza on a few vacant lots within their downtown. This public bathroom is a marvel. The seating outside the restroom, in case there was an unlikely line for the toilet, is visually in the shape of a toilet bowl. The portal into the bathroom lobby is a stylized toilet lid. If you follow the sidewalk toward the right, or north, the sidewalk curves into a giant roll of concrete toilet paper. Once inside the bathroom lobby, wine and/or beer bottles embedded in the walls allow speckled colored light to filter in like a church. The men's and women's bathrooms each have clever gender-specific mosaics of found objects on the walls.
Due to the town's creative effort, this bathroom was voted the 2nd best public bathroom in the entire country by USA Today. I was told by a former resident involved in the process of the design of the Bowl Plaza, that our Footprints bathroom, which is built in the shape of a barn with custom made tiles with barnyard humor, was at least partially the inspiration of the Bowl Plaza.
Lucas also boasts a community run movie theater, a host of Airbnb's to handle the growing tourist trade, the Grassroots Artist Museum, the folk art site: The Garden of Eden, an artist cooperative gallery, local industries and of course agriculture. Artists are gradually moving into town, since Lucas seems receptive. The fact that you can buy a 5 bedroom house for under $100,000 is also appealing. Lucas, with a population of just 332, punches well above its weight. It is a good example of what you can accomplish with creativity mixed with neighbors working together.
Lucas is in the heart of Post Rock Limestone country. The scenery is beautiful. The post rock limestone buildings are amazing for their craftsmanship. There is a wonderful brewery/restaurant in Sylvan Grove, KS, a short 12 mile drive from Lucas. Wilson Reservoir is close by, which is a mecca for kayakers and mountain bikers. Lucas is just 17 miles off of I - 70. Take a break. Check out the bathroom and what the area has to offer. It is worth spending some time here.
Take a walk with Birkenstock.
