The Great Bend Events Center will receive a new look.
The City Council Monday night approved a bid from Brentwood Builders of Great Bend for $60,950 to repaint the venerable venue’s exterior. If an additional third coat of paint is needed, an alternate of $9,100 was also approved.
“It was part of the 2018 goals to get the painting done,” Community Coordinator Christina Hayes said.
The cost was in the city budget for this year.
Because the new entrance was added on, the city had mismatched paint on the front. The plans are to change the look of both the new addition and old to match, and to completely differentiate it from the defunct hotel next door.
The new color scheme will be a contrast of a lighter gray trim against the darker gray covering the rest of the building. Only the portions of the center visible from the street will be painted, not the vacant office complex on the back side.
“A lot of people don’t realize it is the Events Center,” Hayes said. “Some still refer to it as the Highland or the convention center, ‘and that drives me batty.’ ”
The new tones and the planned addition of a new exterior sign will help brand the structure, she said. “It will look really nice.”
“Our hopes (weather permitting) are that we can get the painting done in this calendar year,” Hayes said. “If not, we will request that 2018 dollars be used for the project.”
The work will also include any needed patching and repair work to the facade.
The bid documents were issued on Oct. 5 and bid meeting was held Oct. 29. The only other bidder was CPS Home and Garden, also of Great Bend, but its bid was $68,881.
Other improvements
Most recently, the re-carpeting and tiling of the facility wrapped up in September. The $99,000 project involved 12-foot tile perimeter around the main events room with the rest being carpet, a “walk-off” carpet in the back rooms, and mostly tile in the vestibule, foyer and Conference Room C.
The carpet is in squares that can be replaced. The color scheme is basically grays with some tan to match existing features.
Next year, they would like to see new air walls (movable partitions that can divide up the space) installed to make dividing up the main room easier, have the bathrooms remodeled and have the words “Events Center” emblazoned on the entrance.
More work is also being considered in the main banquet hall.
But, a lot has been done already. Changes have included:
• The new carpet and tile.
• The old canopy and supporting columns were removed.
It was replaced by a 34-by-60-foot canopy covering 2,000 square feet with a 14-foot clearance. Along with this, there will be an 18-by-80-foot plaza area in front of the center.
• About 8,500 square feet of the southeast quarter of the parking lot was removed and replaced. This is sloped, making the building more handicapped accessible and improving drainage.
• Additional repair of the external facade with the new gray colors.
• New sound system, and a projectors and screens were installed.
• Updating the kitchen.
• Some of the front doors were be replaced with wider doors. There is also be an automatic door opener installed.
In addition, there is a new handicapped ramp.
• Variable LED lighting under the canopy is in place.
• An ice and snow melting system under the canopy was also installed.
• To separate the city-owned Events Center and the neighboring and now closed Great Bend Hotel and Convention Center, a covered walkway connecting the two buildings was removed.
• The CVB was moved from its old location at the intersection of 10th and Monroe to a remodeled space in the center in early 2016.
