The new downtown welcome arch is slated for concrete work this week, then arch installation after that, followed by stonework and the replacement of the sidewalk and curb.

Words displayed on the metal arch are Welcome to Fort Scott Downtown Historic District.

Marbery Concrete, Fort Scott,  did the demolition of the sidewalk and curb of the site which is in front of the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce office, 231 E. Wall.

This week, a four-man crew will be making the concrete footings, installing the anchors, and installing the 18 shear lugs into bedrock, to keep the sign secure, according to Jason Marbery, president of  Marbery Concrete.

The metal arch sign, itself, will be coming either next week or the week after.

T.L. Steel, Burrton, KS, will be sending a crew of one crane operator, two welders, a rigger (someone who hooks up hoisting equipment), and the project manager, Levi Robillard, to install the arch sign, Robillard said.

“Install will take three days,” Robillard said. “And another day to paint the sign matte black.”

“Then we will come in and complete stonework,” Jess Milburn, JCM Restore LLC, Fort Scott, said.

The new sidewalk and curb will then be poured, Marbery said.

The timeline for completion of the project is one month, Rachel Carpenter, Health Bourbon County Action Team Executive Director said. The HBCAT along with the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Fort Scott facilitated the project.

The total cost of the arch is $120,000.

“It was a creative placemaking project, through the Patterson Foundation. We also received grant funds from Blue Cross and Blue Shield Pathways to a Healthy Kansas,” Carpenter said. “We went through surveys and meetings, public input, which was very important for this project.”

‘An arch of this type has been a vision of the Chamber for several years to welcome locals and visitors to our community and establish the Downtown Historic District as a destination,’ Lindsey Madison, executive director of the chamber, said. “We believe the arch will provide signage to let visitors know they have “arrived” and that the Downtown area lies just ahead.”

“It is amazing how many visitors we have come into the Chamber & Visitor Center to get information and don’t know all of the assets we have within walking distance and around Fort Scott and Bourbon County,” she said. “This will help entice them to explore the area. We were ecstatic that the opportunity came about for the arch to be a placemaking project through the Blue Cross Blue Shield Pathways grant spearheaded by the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team.”

“Several public meetings were held to gather community input on the design, culminating with approval from the Design Review Board of the City. The esthetics of the arch will compliment nearby historic structures including the beautiful Bandera limestone from right here in Bourbon County. This has truly been a group effort by all of the entities involved and we are excited to see it come to fruition,” Madison said.