Members of the Jack Kilby Committee plan to bring signage for the project up to date Friday when they add another bronze plaque recognizing donors to the Kilby Plaza, located on the west side of the Barton County Courthouse Square.
The plaque features the names of donors who originally planned to purchase memorial bricks in the plaza. The committee and installers will also be adding some bronze donor name strips for existing plaques.
“This will complete the plaza,” committee member Don Halbower said.
Jack Kilby (1923 - 2005), the inventor of the integrated circuit, grew up in Great Bend. In 2000 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. The integrated circuit that Kilby designed shortly after arriving at Texas Instruments in 1958 served as the basis for modern micro-electronics.
Local artist Chet Cale created “The Gift,” a bronze sculpture of Kilby and two other figures, as the inventor is shown handing his gift of knowledge to future generations. It is the centerpiece of the plaza, which was unveiled in 2012.
No tax dollars have been used to pay for construction or maintenance of this community project.