Great Bend city officials are advancing a $56 million development concept that would expand the SRCA Dragstrip and transform the Great Bend Expo Complex into a larger regional draw for motorsports and athletic tournaments. The plan also includes a sports and banquet complex and a hotel-and-restaurant development on 10th Street—efforts aimed at positioning the Expo Complex as a destination and funding infrastructure improvements the city says it can no longer delay.
The effort ties into the city’s proposal to use STAR Bonds, a Kansas economic development financing tool. Under the approach described in the series’ first installment, Great Bend would borrow roughly $30 million, use STAR Bonds to reduce that debt over time, and ask voters in November to approve a sales tax that would serve as the project’s financial safety net. The series explains that STAR Bonds are repaid through sales tax revenue generated within a specially designated district, using a baseline snapshot so only new sales tax activity becomes available for bond repayment.
At the Expo Complex, the city’s expansion would include dragstrip upgrades such as grandstands, suites for sponsors, concessions, restrooms, bathhouses, lighting, and sound infrastructure, along with a new sports and banquet complex. The 10th Street development parcel—sold to developers—includes a planned Hampton Inn and 7 Brew, with construction timing described as underway for 7 Brew preparations.
With the STAR Bond program extended by the Kansas Legislature through 2031, the city’s development team has more certainty as it prepares for public review and a voter decision in November. Great Bend Tribune reports this is the first of a three-part series on the STAR Bond project.