Nothing heralded a circus’ arrival like a band playing a whimsical march.

In the circus’ heyday — when they were always performed under big-top tents — circus bands would travel through town aboard a wagon, leading a high-stepping parade of performers and animals to announce their arrival.

“This was before radio and TV and mass communication,” said Bob Foster, a Kansas University music professor. “If you wanted everyone to know the circus was in town, you took the parade down Main Street. You could see the animals, hear the band and see all the color.”

Now the city of Lawrence has a piece of that history.

Foster has helped secure and restore a circus bandwagon — probably dating to the 1930s — for Lawrence Parks and Recreation to use to promote the city for its 150th birthday next year.

Though details about the wagon’s past are sketchy, Foster said it was adapted from a 1929 Dodge pickup chassis, and that it was used by the Sells-Floto Circus, a medium-sized circus in operation during the late 19th and early 20th century.

The bandwagon previously belonged to a Shriner unit in Topeka, which used it in parades. But the Shriners eventually stopped using it. It was left outside, and the wood eventually began to rot.

Foster talked to one of the Shrine members in the mid-1990s about donating the wagon to KU. He said the university didn’t have a way for bands to participate in parades during the spring and summer, without a marching band practicing, and the wagon needed help.

“It was getting to the point it needed destroyed or restored,” he said. “It was getting to the point of no return.”

Rob Wyrick, with the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department, studies the original wood trim work on a restored wagon that once belonged to the Sells-Floto Circus. The Lawrence Sesquicentennial Commission helped fund the restoration of the 1930s-era bandwagon.

After KU students worked briefly on the project, they realized it would take someone with more skill. They eventually enlisted the efforts of Clayton Curtright, a Shawnee resident who builds and restores wagons.

Curtright, who worked about a year on the project, replaced the wood floor of the wagon, which was rotting, but he was able to keep the side panels and wood trim, and built sunflower wheels to attach to the tires.

He also applied a fresh coat of paint. The wagon now is — of course — red with blue trim and has a green floor.

The wagon has removable tongues, so it can be towed by a truck or a team of horses.

Foster said he still wanted to install a tiered floor so musicians could ride on different levels. He also wants to put the city of Lawrence’s logo on the back of the wagon and add more gold trim.

If it’s complete, the wagon could make its debut at the downtown July Fourth parade, which is the kickoff event for Lawrence’s sesquicentennial celebration.

“At this point, it’s a work in progress,” Foster said. “It’s cool, but it’s not finished.”

Rob Wyrick, the Parks and Recreation official who is overseeing the project, said the bandwagon had a lot of potential as a promotional tool for the city.

“It’ll be used in parades and things like that,” he said. “Hopefully in the future it’ll be used as much as possible.”

He said city officials hadn’t decided whether to put a logo on the side or back, in part because of the wagon’s history.

“We don’t want to take away any of the integrity of the wagon,” he said.