LEWISTON — Volunteers said they need to have something to show before they can get potential donors to buy into a renovated Kennedy Park gazebo and bandstand.

“We need seed money to figure out a firm number about what we’re going to do,” said volunteer Lee Myles, chief executive officer of St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. “Before we go asking for money, we need to know what it’s all going to cost and then what we’re going to do to recognize the donors afterward.”

Councilors voted Tuesday to allocate $4,000 to hire designers and engineers to come up with repairs and renovations of the aging gazebo.

It’s been closed and fenced off for two years due to safety concerns — damage to the concrete floor of the structure as well as erosion on the brick supports and wear on the wooden columns and the wood structure under the roof.

Councilors created the Restoration Committee in November to raise money and come up with a suggested scope of work to repair the failing gazebo. They agreed to use $75,000 from Lewiston’s federal Community Development Block Grant allocation for part of the repairs, but said the bulk must come from donations.

Tuesday’s $4,000 allocation came out of that $75,000, councilors said.

The committee is scheduled to report back to the City Council by the end of July.

Volunteer Linda Scott said the group hopes to create a brochure that shows what can be done to the gazebo, outlines how much it would cost and explains some of the park’s history.

“This is something we can bring to local companies and private individuals to encourage donations and get them to volunteer in-kind services,” Scott said. “We’ve already been out in the community and we’ve had a very positive response, but by having a picture of the finished gazebo then we can get more donations.”

Scott said the group has already collected $20,000 in pledges toward the work.

According to a history of the gazebo written by local historian Douglas Hodgkin, the first bandstand was built in the park in 1868, but the current gazebo was built in 1925.

Since then, it has been used for concerts and band performances as well as political rallies for local, Maine and national candidates.

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