Built Better

About Built Better

Ellinwood's Main Street still sits over the tunnels its early German merchants dug a century back, and the brick storefronts above them need their walks cleared before the first customer tries a door on a cold morning. Built Better starts right there downtown, shoveling and salting the sidewalks storefront by storefront, then moves out into the surrounding streets where most of the driveways sit flat and wide the way wheat-country lots usually do. Wind off the open Arkansas River valley can refill a cleared drive within the hour, so a heavier storm often means the crew runs its route twice before calling it done. Porches and steps get finished by hand once the wider passes are complete. Midday finds the town's drives and walks open again, tunnels and all, the elevator at the edge of town standing bright against a sky finally clear of cloud.