3:56 p.m. - After 14 years, the set of the Medora Musical is starting to show a wrinkle here and a droop there.

It sits outside all year, taking the brunt of those harsh ultraviolet sun rays, not to mention wind and rain.

Today, the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation will open bids to rebuild the set, in a more authentic color design.

The new set, along with an expansion of the facilities' sewage handling system, is expected to cost in the range of $500,000.

Randy Hatzenbuhler, the foundation director, said people familiar with the musical probably won't notice a drastic change, although the new set is designed to have a more authentic western look.

The present set is painted in a bright, Disneyesque look, but the designed coloration for the eight or nine set buildings will be more muted.

The stage is designed so buildings that suggest an old-time Medora -- church, livery, saloon, stable, grocery store -- move along a railroad track.

The track has settled some and the project also will involve bringing the track up to grade, Hatzenbuhler said.

"This was not constructed to stand for 25 years," he said. "If you get inside, some of the boards are starting to rot."

This year, some 111,000 people attended the nightly musical under the stars and 47,000 enjoyed a pitchfork fondue dinner on the adjacent Tjaden Terrace.

The big crowds are putting stress on the septic system and it's time to upgrade the capacity, Hatzenbuhler said.

Basic infrastructure has to be maintained, but Hatzenbuhler said the dollar signs are generally bigger than original construction.

"That ($500,000) is the number we're afraid of. We're hoping it's not that much, but everything costs more now," he said.