By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The Youth Academy is held twice a year through the City of
Great Bend to give children a chance to tour and learn about all of the city’s
operations. Near the end of the event, City Administrator Kendal Francis asks
the kids what they would like to see in Great Bend. A paintball course was
brought up, and now the city is working to create a course.
The city determined there is room to design a course just north of the Great
Bend Expo Complex buildings. Francis said the city could easily set up the
course at relatively no cost, with the course needing space and objects to hide
behind.
Francis even thought a promotional giveaway could build up the interest in
paintball.
"You can get starter paintball kits at Walmart for $50 to $75," said Francis. "The kits provide a basic gun, safety equipment and few paintballs. If we purchase a few of those, we could give them away in a drawing to school-aged kids to get them interested. I was thinking probably seventh grade and above."
The funding for the paintball course would come from the “quality of life”
sales tax that passed last November. Francis estimated a $5,000 allotment for
the project. The paintball course is listed as a 2022 item on the “quality of
life” 10-year capital improvement plan.