🌾 Think Bigger! (Part 1)

August 23, 2023 | Sign Up | Support Us

TOGETHER WITH

Good morning, Wichita!

I hope everyone is having a great week back at school. That goes for kids and parents.

In today's Wichita Life Update

Think Bigger
Century II
Potential Options

Let's get to it!

- Landon Huslig

TOGETHER WITH MARGARET MCHENRY MAIDS

Have you seen the Tally-Ho! billboards around town? I bet you have.

But what does this actually mean? and who is behind these billboards?

Tally-Ho means a few things:

a mail coach or a four-in-hand pleasure coach (someone who drives a carriage with 4 horses)
a cry of "tallyho"- the cry of a hunter on first sighting the fox
to arouse by crying "tallyho" as to the hounds

But most importantly, it is fun to say and evokes a sense of luxury which is what Margaret McHenry Maids is all about.
It is time you bring affordable luxury into your home. Call Margaret McHenry today.

Learn More Here

Think Bigger

We need to think bigger Wichita.

All too often, it feels like we settle. We settle on less than we deserve as a community.

We take the safe or easy route.

If there were an option for Century II that didn’t feel like settling, I would be all for it. But just maintaining it as it is doesn’t seem like the best option and neither does kicking the can down the road.

The Riverfront Legacy Master Plan was shelved during the pandemic.

Rendering of the new downtown riverfront plan. The new plan keeps existing buildings such as Century II and the former downtown library. There's also a pedestrian bridge over the Arkansas River. — The New / Current plan

As it stands, there is a new plan (that probably deserves its own deep dive) that will keep Century II as well as the old library. This new project would cost roughly $400 million. Here is the breakdown:

$170 million expansion of the Bob Brown Convention Center
$55 million in Century II itself with the southern half being converted to a 30k sq-ft ballroom and upgrades to the north half
$15 million to the old library building
$160 million for additional site development, parking, landscaping, and riverfront improvements including an Arkansas River spanning pedestrian bridge

According to Visit Wichita, Wichita is missing out on $45 million a year based on lack of modern convention space. I don’t hate the new plan at all, but will it actually happen is the question?

I have been to Century II for numerous events in recent years: Comic Con, plays and musicals like Hamilton, The Lion King, and Cinderella, Rhea Lana’s Consignment Sale, and more. All were great.

I get it. It is ‘iconic’. The space ship is one of the few buildings that truly stands out. But a reminder, people were probably hesitant back when Wichita wanted to tear down The Forum in order to build a new, better building in Century II.

Century II has served us well, but it is 54 years old and you can tell. Maybe we need to do our best Marie Kondo and thank it for how it served us and let it go.

I know what you’re thinking -

Because I know we can do better.

Anytime I meet someone outside of Wichita, I ask them what they think of Century II:

friend from France - “It’s ugly”
friend from Ohio, living in Tampa - “What is so special about it?”
friend from Franklin, Tennessee - “I came in like a wrecking ball, All I wanted was to break your walls” (okay, that’s just Miley Cyrus, but you get the point)

Personally, I like Century 2.

I just think we need get out of our own way, make a decision, and let’s move Wichita forward. There are so many examples in cities similar-ish to us that are taking WAYYYYYY better advantage of their natural resources and space.

If the new plan, which is keeping Century II, is the best option.. let’s do it, but let’s do it now. If not, let’s take a peek at what our future could look like. (Notice - many of the below options would not require us to tear down Century II. They just require us to be creative and make it happen).

We’ve touched on these before, but a few other options include:

Omaha Riverfront

Omaha is a good look at a potential future of Wichita.

Omaha population: 487,300 Omaha metro population: 1,058,000

Wichita population: 395,699 Wichita metro population: 647,610

They aren’t that much bigger than us and also geographically isolated from mountains, oceans, etc like us.

But they invested $325 million to transform ‘The RiverFront’ with 3 vibrant parks in the heart of downtown.

Gene Leahy Mall - the park has been around for decades in the middle of downtown Omaha, but a transformation started in 2019 which would redesign the whole area and add 40k sq ft of lawn space.

Heartland of America Park- similarly, this park has been around since the 1990’s and began a transformation and construction in 2019. It will open later this summer.

Lewis and Clark Landing - This park will also be open late summer 2023. Check out the amenities which include extensive green spaces, playground, volleyball courts, and more.

Kansas City Rock Island Bridge

I recently came across a project called the Rock Island Bridge in Kansas City.

This bridge is pre-existing from 1904, but is being reimagined as a public crossing, with trailhead services and an entertainment district. The Rock Island Bridge will open in 2024 as the first entertainment district on a bridge.

Some fun facts:

The Kansas River has a width of 130 yards
the upper deck is 50' above the river
2 decks high

Rock Island Bridge 1904 and 2024. Being reclaimed as a public crossing with trailhead services, and an entertainment district—over a river. A model for abandoned bridges across the country?

The river isn't that much wider than the Ar-Kansas river in our downtown... just saying..

San Antonio River Walk

The San Antonio River Walk is one of the coolest attractions in Texas. There are 3.51 miles of walks all along the river right in the heart of the city (sound familiar)? It is lined with restaurants, hotels, shopping and more. I'd say it's a great north star for us to look up to.

Tulsa - The Gathering Place

Tulsa is our brother from another mother that also happens to sit on the Arkansas River. Tulsa dove in deep in 2014 to build a 66.5 acre world-class riverfront park called The Gathering Place. This one might be a little closer to where we're at now. We could do this on a much shorter time frame.

Other areas that can serve as cool inspiration:

I do want to give credit where credit is due. The EP2 Initiative plan at Exploration Place sounds awesome. ICT RiverRides is a fun touch on the river. Let’s keep pushing for more. Let’s keep dreaming bigger and bigger.

My kids are young. Let’s make a decision and do something before even they are too old to enjoy it.

I didn’t intend for this to potentially become a series, but I started writing apparently have a lot of thoughts. Let me know if you’d like me to explore more in depth on anything!