The razing of the Pitcock building, also known as the old opera house building, will begin in two weeks, the Great Bend City Council learned Monday night. Nelson Stone advised he plans to start setting fence on Monday, Oct. 20, and start the work on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
In September, Stone of Great Bend was contracted by the city to do the demolition of the historic structure at Williams and Forest for $90,500. It should be done by the end of November.
The council had also previously approved the closure of portions of these streets periodically during the procedure.
Forest Avenue from the alley between Stone Street and Williams Street to Williams Street, and Williams Street from the south side of the intersection of Williams Street and Forest Avenue to the alley one half block south will be closed roughly between  8 a.m. and 6 p.m. during active demolition for safety purposes when Stone is working on the upper floors and there is a chance of debris falling.
Traffic can still flow through the intersection at these times, but both lanes of the above-mentioned stretches will be shut down.
Stone has permission from the impacted business owners and they will be given 48-hour notice about when work will commence.
During the evening, traffic will be able to drive unabated. And, after Stone has reduced the structure to one floor, the closures will be unnecessary.
 The building is owned by David and Barbara Pitcock of Hays.
The report on the project was part of City Administrator Howard Partington’s departmental update given Monday. Other highlights included:
Fire Department
• Fire prevention school visits started on Friday and will continue for the next two weeks.
• The Fire Department along with the Police Department participated in a table top drill with the school district, Great Bend Regional Hospital, local utility companies and emergency management. The drill was to evaluate multi agency response to a mass casualty event.
Public Works
• Streets: Repaired street at 24th and White Sands for new sanitary sewer construction. 
• Water: Repaired six inch main leak in the 1900 block of 10th Street.
• Sanitarian: 905 year to date complaints, 40 new complaints (six by citizens and 34 by staff), 46 complaints completed by citizens, four abatement notices sent, eight abatements performed and seven vehicles into compliance.
Engineering
• Suchy Construction completed placing concrete for the Veterans Memorial Park Walking Path improvements.
• Nowak Construction has completed installing the new water and sanitary sewer lines along Prairie Rose Drive in Amber Meadows. They are completing testing of the new facilities and installing service to the parcels along the corridor.
 Airport
• Airport Manager Martin Miller and Airport Advisory Committee are currently monitoring a proposed FAA policy that would restrict usage of aircraft hangars. This proposed policy should not affect occupancy in the near term, but may impact the airport if a waiting list for aircraft owners develops.
• The electrical and paving contractors are in the final phase of rehabilitating the electrical power supply to the crosswind runway 11-29.
• The FAA has initiated grant letters to the airport for a replacement aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle, as well as a building to support its operation. This grant should be offered to the city next spring, and will likely provide 90 percent of the needed funding for the project.
Administration
• Stores participated in the Panther Pride Week during the week of Great Bend High School’s homecoming and rewarded those who were wearing Panther colors with special discounts. Panthers were painted to show school spirit throughout town and stores reported it wasn’t hugely successful, but it was fun to partake in this community event, Community Coordinator Christina Hayes said.
• The 409-348 Convention was held on Sept. 27. There were cars from over 15 different states. Organizer Phil Reed was “ecstatic” about Great Bend and looks forward to coming and reporting to the City Council sometime in November. He said that Great Bend was “so welcoming and treated everyone wonderfully.”
• Run the Runway was held last Friday night. It was a way for the Airfest Committee to raise funds to help pay for the 2015 Great Bend Airfest. There were over 75 runner/walkers.
The date for fest has not yet been set, but should be determined sometime in January.