A new city park is being planned on the site of the former high school. Among the possibilities for things to include there is a band shell.
A summer concert in the park with picnic baskets and great music is among the most popular of American traditions. Yet Cortez has no place to have one.
The concrete slab just west of the Visitor Center has serious problems – well, unless you like your music with diesel truck accompaniment. The location for a band shell is a very important consideration, as is the design of the structure.
A band shell is different from a bandstand. A bandstand is typically a gazebo-style structure, sometimes elevated, that offers no acoustical advantage to either the band members or the listeners. A band shell, on the other hand, is acoustically designed to help the performers hear one another, and to direct the collective sound of the band toward the audience in front of the structure.
While musical groups of any kind can perform in a band shell, there are two traditional community concert bands in our area that would certainly take advantage of a Cortez band shell: Four Corners Community Band and Southwest Civic Winds.
If you have thoughts regarding the possibility of a band shell for Cortez, please contact City Manager John Dougherty (city.manager@cityofcortez.com) or Mayor Karen Sheek (ksheek@cityofcortez.com).
Bob Waggoner
Cortez