If all goes as planned, Jack Kilby Square in downtown Great Bend will have a new look come next spring.

The City Council Monday night approved bids for improvements to the Clayton L. Moses Memorial Bandshell and surrounding area, as well as for the construction of the splash pad. Five bidders submitted bids for the project with the winning bid coming from Wiens and Company of Hutchinson for $355,700.

“We are extremely excited about the good bids,” City Administrator Howard Partington said. 

“We had a lot of interest” in the project, said Ed Klock, an architect with PBA Architects of Wichita, the firm that prepared the improvement designs. The low bid was about $100,000 below the highest proposal.

The work will include expanding the bandshell stage outwards, improving handicapped accessibility, improved access for loading and unloading, replacing the restroom roofs, landscaping, lighting and some paving. And, at the north end of the bandshell plaza, the splash pad will consist of a few water spray features.

Partington said the Thelma Faye Harms Charitable Trust has contributed $300,0000 towards the renovations.

The bandshell dates back to the 1920s and it has been a while since the area was revamped. This effort includes the removal of the water fountain, and the relocation of the vintage cannon and a buried time capsule.

Wiens hopes to get started by Thanksgiving and be done by May 1, 2017.