Work has begun on Bandstand!

If you’ve been around Eskridge in the past month, you’ll have seen a bustle of activity on the bandstand! In early 2020, the Eskridge Park Foundation was awarded the Heritage Trust Fund Grant, a state program administrated by the Kansas Historical Society. (Read more on that here.) The ability to obtain this grant was made possible by the efforts of Bruce Waugh, and Dale Nims when they placed the Eskridge City Park on the National Historical Registry in early 2017.

The EPF won a $54,155 grant award for the restoration of the 110 year old bandstand still standing in the center of Eskridge City Park. We are pleased to say that construction is under way with the Riley Construction group and things are moving along nicely.

Riley Construction began with the foundation of bandstand, which has experienced decay due to weather and time. They remove and poured concrete for 15 supports. The concrete was also poured higher to reduce water exposure to the wood in future. This portion is complete and the skirting will begin to be added back on to the bandstand soon. They poured the base and have already begun adding the full-sized restored stair case. Rotten and destroyed wooden panels on the floor have been replaced, and they are beginning to rebuild the railings around the octagonal bandstand. In addition, the roof was removed and re-shingled. Once the rotten boards are replaced, and old paint is scraped from the remaining boards, the entire bandstand will see a new paint job.

The projected completion date is May 21st and as long as the weather holds out, we are optimistic that the bandstand will be finished by that time.