Curtain goes up on new Convention Center dividing wall
BY DALE HOGG
dhogg@gbtribune.com
Leads can come from anywhere. That is what city officials found out when an architect in Great Bend to study improvements to the courthouse square gave them information about another long-running city project – the convention center.
Great Bend City Administrator Howard Partington said the architect gave them the name of the company that installed the original air wall (the retractable divider) at the center. Claco Supply of Wichita put the partition up in 1981.
Partington told the City Council Monday night city officials contacted the company. “They came out to inspect the wall and found it to be unsafe and far beyond its useful life.”
In fact, they locked it up so it could not be used due to safety reasons.
However, “they have given us a quote for a new operable wall with installation,” he said. “That quote is less than we were using three years ago when we were looking into the costs to upgrade the convention center.”
The total cost will be under $40,000, and will include the removal of the current divider as well as the installation of the new one. The city had figured on $40-50,000.
“This was one of our big concerns when we got the convention center,” Partington said. This was good news.
The wall can divide the center into roughly half.
Partington was given council’s blessing to proceed with the project.
The on-going effort to replace the walking path at Veterans Memorial Park will be completed after action taken by the Great Bend City Council Monday night.
The council approved the low bid from Suchy Construction of Great Bend for $36,829.80 to complete the nearly one-mile loop around the northern part of the recreational facility. This is a six-foot-wide, 1,500-foot-long segment along the north side of the trail, as well as a spur that connects the path to the park roadway.
“We’ve done enough over the years that we are down to the home stretch,” said City Engineer Rob Winiecke. “This will be a good improvement” that finishes off the project.
The Suchy bid was below Winiecke’s estimate. The only other bid came from Morgan Brothers Construct of LaCrosse which was considerably higher than the Suchy proposal.
Money from the Barbara Bushnell Fund has paid for earlier portions of the project.
In other action Monday night, the City Council:
• Heard and economic development report from Great Bend Chamber of Commerce President Jan Peters. She said Central National Bank is a new bank in town and is opening a Great Bend Lending Services Office. The bank named Chad Steffan, formerly of Sunflower Bank, as the president and commercial/ag lender.
She also said Benefit Management Inc. of Great Bend was one of the five 24 Regional Business Excellence Award winner finalists for the Governor’s Award of Excellence, the top award given to a business by the state. The winner will be announced June 17 at the Team Kansas Awards Banquet in Wichita.
• Approved one-day cereal-malt beverage licences from the Great Bend Chamber of commerce for the Big Bend Bike Rally beer garden Sept. 20 at the Expo Complex and from the Odin Store for June Jaunt beer garden on June 7 at the courthouse square.
• Approved abatements at: 307 Frey, owned by Miguel and Yolinda Mata, and 309 Buckeye, owned by Ricardo and Griselda Rodriquez, both for motor vehicle nuisances.
• Approved a resolution authorizing the transfer of funds from the Economic Development Fund to the Rural Housing Incentive District Fund. This is being done at the request of the city’s auditors. The transfer will make possible the improvements planned on the single-family homes in the Amber Meadows subdivision.
• Heard a department update from City Administrator Howard Partington.
