The City of Emporia has big changes coming to its park system over the next year.
The biggest change will occur in Fremont Park with city leadership planning a major update to the park’s bandstand, home to the Emporia Municipal Band during the summer months, likely late in the summer season according to Assistant City Manager Mark Detter.
Detter says the project will likely cost around $150,000, with funding coming from two sources: the city’s Lake Kahola fund and fundraising through community partners. Detter says ideas have been bounced around as to the fundraising portion of the endeavor, however, no specific plans have been announced.
Detter says the project’s main goal will be to increase both space and accessibility.
Current plans have the project taking 60 to 90 days to complete.
On top of the bandstand upgrade, the city is also considering a change in hours for all city parks, aside from White Park. Current plans are to alter the hours of operation for all parks from 6 am to 11 pm daily.
Detter says the change is meant to make all park hours uniform and add consistency to the operation schedule to help reduce confusion for residents. There is no timeline for when the hour change will take effect.
As for the bandstand project, Detter says the next time the matter could come before commissioners will be for bid letting, however, there is no exact date for when that may occur.
