T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY From left to right, Phillip Curtis, Melanie Messerli, Travis Hornberg and Jim Johnson of the Marshalltown Central Business District (MCBD) Design Committee show off the organization’s new and improved mobile bandshell, which will be set up on the courthouse lawn for the first Live After Five of the season on May 15.

Just over two years ago, the Marshall County Board of Supervisors agreed to sell the county’s mobile bandshell, which it had owned since 2003, to the Marshalltown Central Business District (MCBD) for the low, low price of $1. Since then, the MCBD Design Committee — Jim Johnson, Travis Hornberg, Melanie Messerli and Phillip Curtis — have spearheaded the process of giving the structure a much-needed facelift, and they’re ready to debut the new look bandshell just in time for the first Live After Five event of the season next month.

“The county was getting to the point where they didn’t want to spend the time or effort to use it, so that’s when they offered it to us. And we just took over so that people can still use it, rent it, use it for the concerts here in town,” Johnson said.

It will continue to be available for rent with proceeds benefiting the MCBD, and anyone interested can stop by the office at 34 W. Main St. to pick up an application. The process of designing a new wrap for the bandshell began between a year and a year and a half ago, and the Arts + Culture Alliance (ACA) provided a grant to help cover the cost along with some money the MCBD had set aside itself.

The committee worked with Project7 Design out of Des Moines, the company that worked on the new mural at Zeno’s, and fine-tuned their preferred design before it ultimately came to the entire MCBD board for a vote. With the Live After Five concert series moving to the courthouse lawn in the new event space created as part of the Main Street reconstruction project, the bandshell will be front and center, and it has been used for the Fourth of July celebration, Oktemberfest and a Christian revival at the Cartwright Farmer’s Market.

In addition to the aesthetic improvements, Johnson said they plan to put new LED lighting on the bandshell and replace the brakes and tires as well. The committee members are thankful for all of the volunteer work that went into the effort, specifically mentioning Top Notch Tree Service for transporting the bandshell to Des Moines and back.

The new and improved bandshell will make its event debut at Live After Five on the courthouse lawn on May 15.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.