By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Few people showed up at a public meeting to discuss Marion’s upcoming but long-delayed downtown revitalization Thursday evening.

Joe Bryant of Halstead-based Bryant and Bryant, contractor for the work, said no specific date has been set to begin work on the project, but the contract requires work to begin no later than March 4.

The first set of drawings for a Marion streetscape project were produced in 1980, city administrator Roger Holter said.

The plan was revised and re-planned in 2010. The city got a grant from Kansas Department of Transportation in 2016, but planning wasn’t completely ready.

“After we got the grant, we had to do a re-design because the prices were too high and we had to make it less,” Holter said.

When the lowest bid came in December 2017, the project cost was $1.2 million — 24 percent higher than the $968,000 original estimate.

Accepting the low bid would have bumped the city’s share from about $258,000 to $531,000, so details deemed “unnecessary” were removed, bringing down the cost.

New vintage-style light poles, buried power lines, new sidewalks, and modified curb cuts and crosswalks are major components of the proposal targeting Main St. from 1st to 5th Sts.

Planters, waste bins, and benches will be added, and accessible entries for downtown businesses will be created to comply with federal law.

A raised edge of a parking lot at 1st St. south of Webster Auto Service will get a makeover to change it into a retaining wall where people can sit for a rest.