By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Let's give them a game plan. At the Dec. 1 Great Bend City Council meeting, new Great Bend Economic Development (GBED) Director Jason Kuilan answered questions from Councilman Gary Parr about GBED's role in the community, and about the status of the new Innovation Center on West 10th Street. Two weeks later, Parr is still not satisfied. During the Dec. 15 council meeting, Parr implored someone with longer standing within GBED to answer questions being put forth by an angry public.
"I wish somebody from GBED would come forward and answer the questions the people are screaming about," Parr said. "They're not asking anymore. They're upset. They're mad. They see what's going on. We've got a building out there, half-finished, with the roof blowing around on it, with the front entrance wide open on it, and we're short about $4 million to finish the project, from what I'm hearing."
During the Dec. 1 meeting, Kuilan explained the grant process and why construction on a new multi-million-dollar Innovation Center began before 100 percent of funds for the project were secured. He also reported the under-construction facility on West 10th Street in Great Bend would be winterized while construction is on pause, and that the goal is still to have the building fully operational by September 2026. Given Kuilan's month-long tenure with GBED, Parr wants answers from someone else.
"When the people are yelling this loud, 'What's going on?' somebody needs to step forward from their board," Parr said, "and just say, 'Here's what's going on, here's what we're going to do, here's our plan, this is the outlay, we're going to answer your questions.' I don't know why that can't happen."
Parr said answers would help quiet concerns from angry community members, but those answers need to come from people who have been involved with the project for longer than a month.