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GILTNER, Neb. — The streets in the new Parkside subdivision in Giltner are just about finished. So are the plats and the water and sewer lines.
All that’s missing now are houses — or, more specifically, a house.
The six couples developing the subdivision are giving away one free lot as an incentive to the first family to build a house there.
Once that first house is in, the developers say, others will follow.
“We feel like once we get one out there, I think it’s just a matter of people seeing the type of house that’s up there and going for it,” said Marlene Hinrichs, one of the developers.
For the subdivision’s developers, the project is much more than a business venture — it’s an integral step to ensuring that the town of about 400 remains alive and strong.
Their development is a bold step based on the belief that there’s no such thing as inertia when it comes to community growth.
“The old saying is, ‘Small towns don’t die; they commit suicide,’” said Tom Lambert, another developer and Giltner’s utilities superintendent. “We want to keep our school. We want to keep our community. It’s a nice little community.”
It’s not hard to get Lambert and Hinrichs to gush about Giltner. They point out the small K-12 public school system, which offers small class sizes and a newly opened preschool.
The town also finished building a community center for meetings and special events two years ago.
It’s the kind of quiet town where residents keep an eye on each other’s kids, who can ride around town safely, Hinrichs said.
Its recruiting ace in the hole, though, is its location: less than 20 minutes from Grand Island, Hastings and Aurora.
“It’s just a good little spot,” Lambert said. “You’re in town, but you’re out in the country a little.”
Still, Parkside’s developers say they hope the free lot offer can nudge things along a bit.
They’ve undertaken an ambitious project: a 34-lot subdivision in a town with just 400 people in the first place.
But Lambert and Hinrichs said they’re confident that once the first house becomes a reality, the next few will go up quickly.
The 27,000-square-foot lot does come with strings attached: Construction on a house must begin by Oct. 1 and be finished by Oct. 1, 2011.
The development’s rules call for homes of at least 1,200 square feet, with a basement and two-car attached garage.
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