Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Arts And Cultural Heritage topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Marshall seeks $795,000 in legacy funds to replace deteriorating bandshell
Summary
Marshall officials asked the Minnesota Senate committee to award $795,000 from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to replace a structurally unsound bandshell in Liberty Park; the bill was laid over for possible inclusion.
Senator Gary Dames presented Senate File 673 on behalf of the city of Marshall, seeking $795,000 from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to repair or replace the community’s historic bandshell in Liberty Park.
The request matters because the bandshell, located next to the Redwood River and used for summer concerts and other events, has reached what city officials describe as a point of structural failure. “It is structurally unsound,” Bob Burns, mayor of the city of Marshall, told the committee, citing a structural engineer’s estimate that full replacement would cost about $1,100,000.
Marshall officials said the city will raise the balance of the estimated cost locally. Burns said the city has already secured “a commitment for a significant portion” of the local match, and that the bandshell is part of Marshall’s comprehensive and strategic plans. Preston Stenzweed, park and recreation superintendent for the city of Marshall, described past repairs and a structural report recommending full replacement rather than further patching: “the structural engineer report did recommend full replacement versus trying to repair.”
At the hearing Dames pointed committee members to two handouts in their packets: a project history for the Marshall bandshell and a sales-tax summary for legacy collections in Marshall. He told the committee that roughly $14,000,000 in sales tax tied to the Legacy Amendment had been collected in the Marshall area from April to October 2024 and that Marshall previously received approximately $39,000 in legacy funding in February 2012.
The committee took no final vote on Senate File 673. Chair closed the presentation by saying the bill will be “laid over for possible inclusion.”
Less urgent details: speakers said the bandshell hosts the summer city band and other arts events from early spring through late fall, and that cosmetic repairs were done in 2004 but recent settlement and moisture-related deterioration to wood arch beams prompted the replacement recommendation.
