After years of trying to come to grips with being a part of Pittsburg, the community of Chicopee will finally get its own identity.
Beginning in 2011, the small, unincorporated town located just west of Pittsburg will be placed on the official Kansas state road map.
“It was time to get it on there,” said Chicopee resident and advocate of getting map recognition, Jerry Lomshek.
With the help of state Rep. Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, the Kansas Department of Transportation approved placing Chicopee on the map in July.
“It kind of started when I noticed that the state map didn’t have Chicopee on it,” Lomshek said. “I talked to the county and they told me that unincorporated towns are on there, so the next thing was to go to the state.
“I called Julie back last winter and she first told me that she wasn’t sure we could do it because Chicopee was unincorporated.”
But, KDOT cartographer Brian Logan said that the process wasn’t that hard. He said that, currently, Kansas has 727 unincorporated areas that are not on the state map.
“I was worried about Chicopee because of Pittsburg being so close,” Logan said. “We were lucky enough to squeeze them on to the map.”
There are different criteria for an unincorporated town to be listed on the state map. The town must be on a state highway, have at least 10 occupied dwellings, have a community building (church, community center, ect.), and at least one business.
“I know that KDOT has requirements and I knew that we had a few things like our community center and Crestwood Country Club that serves food and Dalton’s Event Center,” Lomshek said.
At present, unincorporated areas like Englevale, Ringo and Franklin are on the state map. Lomshek said that, according to the Chicopee Rural Water District, which is the first rural water district established in the state of Kansas, there are over 400 residents of Chicopee.
“I’m happy that I could help get Chicopee on the state map,” Menghini said. “It was a long process, but I’m very pleased with the result.”
Logan said that the process is already complete and Chicopee has been placed on the map for 2011. He said the new state maps are scheduled to be printed sometime in December.
“At least the people can find us anyway,” Lomshek said.
He even went so far as to credit a Democrat — Menghini — with working with himself, a Republican precinct committee member for Chicopee, on getting the area on the state map.
“It goes to show that bipartisanship can work,” Lomshek said.
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140
