Cheyenne County Sheriff, Michael Buchanan along with his wife Kayla have joined the movement for progress in Kit Carson and have established Buchanan Invest, LLC. Buchanan Invest is working through the final stages of purchasing a large building which encompasses most of one side of Main Street there where former businesses, Trails End Liquor, Backdoor Hardware, Singing Grass Trading Post, a salon, and the current Kit Carson Post Office were housed.
The purpose for the acquisition of this large building is to create two separate businesses, Buchanan’s Golf Garage and Cats Den Family Fun Center. These two businesses will be housed in what were formerly Trails End Liquor and Singing Grass Trading Post. The other areas of the large building will be available to rent to others in the community who wish to bring more life back to Main Street.
The first Facebook post from the Buchanan Invest LLC business page stated, “Welcome to the home of the Cats Den Family Fun Center and Buchanan’s Golf Garage! Located at 100 and 102 Main Street in the Town of Kit Carson! Both entities were created in April of 2023. We are hoping to open our doors for business on May 1st, 2023.
The Cats Den Family Fun Center located at 102 Main St. will have a host of coin operated arcade games, a 50” TV with access to a Nintendo Switch, a toddler play area, with reading space and fun for all ages. The area will also be available to rent for private parties.
Buchanan’s Golf Garage, a member only area for adults and their families will have a SIG10 Golf Simulator with a subscription to WGT19, 2-coin operated pool tables, 2-coin operated dart machines, as well as a host of other entertainment options. This space will be available for “day pass” users as well after the signing of a liability waiver. All members will take priority over any day pass user. Tee Times are required for use of golf simulator. Buchanan’s Golf Garage will accept private parties at their discretion.
The Cats Den Family Fun Center and Buchanan’s Golf Garage look forward to serving the Town of Kit Carson and Cheyenne County!”
Michael told the Kiowa County Independent that the hours of operation for the Cats Den will be 7-days per week for members and as needed for “day pass” users. Sunday through Thursday the doors will open at 8:00 a.m. and locked at 8:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday the doors will open at 8:00 a.m. and lock at 10:00 p.m.
Since the Golf Garage is an adult side, the hours will differ as the simulator will be available for its members 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The front area will also be available for members during the same hours. All members will have to sign a liability waiver, and day passes will be available for $15.00 per hour with a signed waiver (Golf Simulator Only).
Michael went on to say, “The front area of the building where the pool tables and dart boards are will be a membership of $100.00 per year per family. No kids will be allowed in the front area with pool tables and darts without their parent accompanying them.”
When asked what made the Buchanan’s want to pursue these businesses the answer was very matter of fact, Michael stated, “My wife and I are getting ready to have our 4th child in a couple of weeks and we knew we were going to suffer without having childcare, so the decision was made that she would be leaving the Kit Carson School this year and opening “Kayla’s Kid Zone Academy” an in-home Daycare which will run out of our house.”
He went on to say, “After the Community Meetings and all of the interest in having businesses in town we were driving home from Lamar one day and Kayla came up with the idea of having a “Kid Zone” in Kit Carson.
Soon thereafter the couple invited the owners of the building over for an evening when they as Michael said, “Thew an offer at them, and it stuck.” The next day the couple talked with their bank and were approved for the purchase.
Michael states that this is when “things just started falling into place.” When word spread that the building was going to be sold members of the community came to the Buchanans with ideas, one of those ideas came from friend Jason Dechant who thought a golf simulator would be a huge hit in town.
Photos and videos on the official Facebook page show that community members have come together to help the couple with some rehab projects to give the building a facelift prior to opening its doors.
Buildings of the age as the one purchased likely need a few upgrades especially in terms of interior decorating,” Michael said. “If you would have asked me, I would have said we didn’t need to rehabilitate anything. However, my wife said every wall needed paint, the carpet had to go, we needed new flooring, and we needed to leave the platform in the Cats Den.”
He went on to say, “So, after those orders, I tore out all of the carpet, ordered new flooring, came to a consensus that white was a color and we could leave two and one-half walls white, so we painted three and one-half walls and the entire platform, had a huge outpouring of support from the community on April 14th, 15th, and 16th to lay all of the new flooring. Sold the walk-in cooler to another local business and had 8-10 people show up on Sunday the 16th to remove the cooler. At this time, I’m getting ready to cut down a part of the wall in the Golf Garage so it will fit a 3-door cooler for patrons to keep their drinks cold while they are playing at the Golf Simulator or pool/darts.”
Both businesses will be run by Michael and Kayla who both say that their overall goal is to have a community space where everyone can come and have fun, talk to people, play games, and just have a spot to go!
The couple said they feel blessed to be living in such a great community, “The entire Community has been very gracious in offering us the use of dump trailers, volunteering their time to come in and help lay floors, paint, and give ideas and visions of how they might do it if it were them. We’ve experienced a tremendous outpouring of knowledge and dedication to this community.”
In closing Michael had this to say, “I just think of this opportunity as a way of giving our community a place to gather, have fun, and be together. Kit Carson and Cheyenne County is a tight knit cohesive family. We care about our neighbors, we care about our Towns, we care about our County, and we really want our children to have somewhere to go and have fun where it’s safe.”
