Future of the Skylon is up in the air

HARTINGTON — The city of Hartington has a year to decide the fate of the historic Skylon Ballroom.

Mayor Mark Becker told City Council members Monday he has been in discussions with the building's owners, Roger Wortmann and other Plumbing and Electric owners.

The end of June of next year is the likely last event of the Skylon Ballroom, Becker said.

"At that point, the two options are, demo the Skylon Ballroom or move it," he said."We're at the point where we're a year away to where something needs to happen."

Becker said in order to save the iconic structure, he wants to explore the possibility of the city being involved.

"That would entail some community meetings where we can gauge the interest of the community and see if they are willing to possibly participate with some tax increases or something and get their feedback as to what they want to see happen to the Skylon Ballroom and kind of get a plan."

Becker said everything is in the discussion phase right now.

"At this point, no money is being spent," he said. "We just want to let the public know what we are thinking about and make sure all the Council members are good to take a first step to see if we want to engage in this."

Becker said he would like to see the Skylon, which was inducted into the Nebraska Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, moved to a new location and updated so it could possibly be used as a community center.

"We've been discussing this behind the scenes for a long time. At this point, we have a person interested in possibly moving the Skylon, but I'd like to have a Plan B," he said.

Plan B, Becker said, could mean the city might take over the project to move it and then lease it out to a business to operate.

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