Downtown Wichita arena Archives - Page 3 of 10 Voice For Liberty

Apr

Wichita Exchange Place TIF should be rejected

Tomorrow's meeting of the Wichita city council will feature a public hearing as to whether a tax increment financing district that benefits Real Development should be modified. The TIF district is already approved in the amount of $9.3 million. The applicants are asking that the city's contribution be increased to $11.8 million, plus approval of changes to the project plan. The first issue we should address is the purpose of these public hearings. Presumably notice of their existence is given not only so citizens and interested parties can plan to attend, but also so that there can be discussion of…

Mar

By Bob Weeks

In Sedgwick County, is there slack time?

As reported in the Wichita Eagle, the Sedgwick County Commission decided to reimburse the county for time its employees spent working on arena-related matters. The money will come from the sales tax that was collected to build the Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita. The amount of money the commission decided to transfer is $1.6 million, although according to the Eagle, the total cost could reach $2.6 million. Here's something of concern to me in the story: "But he [Sedgwick County chief financial officer Chris Chronis] pushed for the money to remain in the arena and pavilions' operating and maintenance…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Assessment of Wichita’s Intrust Bank Arena’s success premature

Any rational assessment of the success of the Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita must realize that the arena is in its honeymoon period. Will the parade of big-name stars playing to a packed arena continue for long? Will the Wichita Eagle and local television stations continue to breathlessly announce every upcoming event? Until initial enthusiasm dies down and the arena has a track record of a year or more, we simply have no idea what the financial performance of the arena will be. That's what's important. This premature glowing assessment of the arena's success is dangerous in that it…

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Intrust Bank Arena’s missing name

A note to readers: I served as co-manager of Peterjohn's campaign in 2008. The commemorative plaque on the Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita, Kansas. On the commemorative plaque outside the Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita, there's a missing name. The names of eight Sedgwick County commissioners appear, including all who were members of the Commission when the arena sales tax passed in November 2004, all who have served since then, and all present commissioners. Except for one: current third district commissioner Karl Peterjohn. In 2004 Peterjohn led opposition to the sales tax ballot measure that funded the arena.…

Dec

By Bob Weeks

Ticket scalping is a market function, not a criminal activity

At the Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita, some concerts are very popular, which leads to people frustrated at two things: the inability to buy tickets when they go on sale, and then the high prices that ticket scalpers ask for tickets on the aftermarket. I understand the frustration of the stymied ticket buyers. Who wants to pay $300 for a ticket that was sold by the arena's box office for $50? It would be great if everyone who wanted to attend could do so for $50 -- or for $5, for that matter. And that gets to the heart…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Wichita arena lands a whopper

The Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita has landed NCAA women's basketball first- and second-round tournament games in 2011. Recently, the NCAA bypassed the Wichita arena when selecting sites for men's NCAA games. On KAKE TV, arena manager Chris Presson said women's games are a testing ground for something "perceived to be bigger. ... Certainly the women's to us is as big as the men's and is as big a deal to us as the men's would be. We're more than content, more than happy with what we've got." According to Associated Press reporting from earlier this year, "The first…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Low NBA attendance in Wichita danger sign for Intrust Bank Arena

The Intrust Bank Arena management firm SMG must be wondering what it bit off in Wichita. Last night NBA professional basketball players put sneaker to floor in Wichita for the first time in 14 years, and only an estimated 8,000 fans showed up. (Estimate is by the Wichita Eagle.) The game was held at the Charles Koch arena on the campus of Wichita State University. That arena has a capacity, according to the goshockers website, of 10,400. Wichita downtown arena boosters told voters that if we passed the tax, we'd have lots of events like this, and lots of fans…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Downtown Wichita parking plan at odds with revitalization goals

Currently, Wichita is struggling to find enough parking spots downtown to meet the demand expected to be created by the new Intrust Bank Arena. It's been a contentious issue, with many Wichitans skeptical of the city's ability to supply enough parking at prices that people are willing to pay for. But did you know that there is likely to be fewer parking spots in downtown Wichita if the firm likely to lead downtown revitalization planning has its way? Here are a few excerpts from the proposal submitted by Goody Clancy, the firm the city is likely to choose to lead…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Welshimer files for re-election to Sedgwick County Commission

Sedgwick county commissioner Gwen Welshimer files for re-election.Today, Sedgwick County Commissioner Gwen Welshimer filed for re-election to her position as a member of the commission. Her statement is below. Welshimer, a Democrat, is so far the only candidate in that party. There are three Republicans who have either filed or are considering filing. Welshimer campaigned and has voted as a fiscal conservative. I asked her given your fiscal conservatism, how will these Republicans differentiate themselves from you? Welshimer said that she's not heard their campaign platforms. They are all city people, she said, likely to support funding of downtown Wichita.…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

Wichita sales tax likely to be proposed

Two recent events have led me to suspect that as part of the plan for the revitalization of downtown Wichita, we're going to see a sales tax proposed. The first is Phillip Brownlee's editorial in last Friday's Wichita Eagle, which carried the title Taxes are lower than many think. While this editorial focused on property taxes, it's easy to see this as an argument that Wichitans can bear the burden of more taxation. Softening up the electorate, so to speak. Then, there's this email sent to the Wichita city council and Sedgwick county commission members: I recently received the attached…