Downtown Wichita arena Archives - Page 4 of 10 Voice For Liberty

Sep

Wichita downtown arena parking promises not fulfilled

In 2004, as residents of Sedgwick County were considering whether to vote for a sales tax to fund the downtown Wichita arena (now known as the Intrust Bank Arena and nearly ready to open), people wondered about parking. So on a campaign literature piece, the arena supporters made this claim: "With the proposed garage structures, more than 10,000 parking spaces will be available within a three-block radius of the Arena (compared with the Coliseum's 4,500 spaces.)" Today, on the eve of the arena's opening, these parking garages don't exist. What about surface parking spaces? According to the draft version of…

Sep

By Bob Weeks

Goody Clancy proposal for Downtown Wichita revitalization master plan

Last Friday a selection committee selected one company from four finalists to lead the planning effort for the revitalization of downtown Wichita. If some city leaders and a few citizen elites had their way, citizens of Wichita wouldn't be able to see the company's proposal document until after the city council makes a decision to follow -- or not -- the recommendation of the selection committee. But thanks to city manager Robert Layton's decision, this document is now available for all to read. (Thanks also go to council member Jim Skelton, for his unsuccessful effort to release the documents.) This…

Sep

By Bob Weeks

Lutz, Hanson, Fahnestock owe Wichita an apology

In the campaign for the sales tax to build the downtown Wichita arena (Intrust Bank Arena), the idea of hosting NCAA men's basketball games was promoted as something that would happen if voters approved the arena. This week we learned that for this event, our arena has been rejected for the next three years. Three arena boosters in particular -- Bob Hanson of the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission, businessman George Fahnestock, and Wichita Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz -- owe Wichita and Sedgwick County voters an apology. As it turns out, Lutz was quite the visionary in a June…

Sep

By Bob Weeks

DeBoer plan for Wichita downtown redevelopment largely realized

The following is a lightly edited version of an insightful comment left on this site by an unknown writer, the "Wichitator." Since many readers don't read comments, I've promoted this to a post. Hundreds of millions have already been spent for downtown redevelopment and what do we have to show for it? In contrast, look at the benign neglect the city has had on the thriving east and west sides of town where projects on Maize and Webb roads have prospered despite heavy property taxes. Over 20 years ago the current downtown developer of the languishing East Bank (WaterWalk) project,…

Aug

By Bob Weeks

Light rail not good for Wichita

A recent letter in the Wichita Eagle by Alden Wilner of Bel Aire worries that "flat, dusty and hot" parking lots in the neighborhood of the Intrust Bank Arena (formerly known as the downtown Wichita arena) in downtown Wichita will hamper downtown revitalization. I don't know if this claim is true or not, but I do know that the solution Wilner proposes -- "an area wide light-rail system" -- would be an absolute disaster for Wichita. These systems are costly to build and operate, suffer from low ridership almost everywhere they are built, and have many other problems. In a…

Aug

By Bob Weeks

Wichita downtown arena parking problem

This week the Wichita Eagle printed a letter submitted by Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn. The printed letter is quite a bit shorter than what Peterjohn submitted. The unabridged letter follows. The Wichita Eagle editorial written by Rhonda Holman on June 29, 2009 now claims that the new Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita lacks adequate parking. This is a major change by the Eagle editorial board’s position. I have repeatedly asked county staff about the available parking in and around this soon-to-open facility since I became a commissioner in January. I have been repeatedly told by county staff that…

Jun

By Bob Weeks

The empty arena

Kansas City's Sprint Center (that's their new downtown arena) is suffering from underuse. The Atlantic article The Empty Arena tells the story. Its subtitle is "If you build it, they might not come." Despite being managed by a well-connected and experienced management group, no professional basketball or hockey team has moved in. Here's bit more: For now, Kansas City remains cautiously optimistic that the decision to build the Sprint Center was an enlightened one. The taxes that fund it are largely being paid by visitors, after all, and the concerts and NCAA games it has already attracted would have bypassed…

Jun

By Bob Weeks

Sedgwick County keeps lease agreement secret

A few months ago in March, SMG, the company that is managing the Intrust Bank Arena (formerly known as the downtown Wichita arena) signed a lease with the Wichita Thunder Hockey team. Details of that lease weren't made available to the public. Not to Sedgwick County Commissioners, either. So the public and even elected government officials don't know anything about this contract, except for its term of five years. This strikes me as bad government. The county has a deal with SMG that gives the management company broad latitude in operating the arena, including some profit-and-loss responsibility. The arena, however,…

Apr

By Bob Weeks

More money to Wichita government

A letter in today's Wichita Eagle places a lot of faith on things not yet seen, and in things we know don't work. "I think it is dumb that people are complaining about the new Intrust Bank Arena. It will bring money and tourists to Wichita, not to mention great entertainment. That means more money brought to our government, and that's a good thing. -- Caleb Beeson, Wichita" First, since the Intrust Bank Arena is not yet open, it has no track record. We have absolutely no idea how well it will do, financially or otherwise. A lot of people…

Mar

By Bob Weeks

Articles of Interest

Education reform, downtown Wichita arena, Kansas smoking ban, downtown developers Education’s Ground Zero (Nicholas D. Kristof in The New York Times) Describes the efforts of Washington D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee to reform the system. She's fired one-third of the principals. Kristof reminds us of the importance of teachers: "The reform camp is driven partly by research suggesting that great teachers are far more important to student learning than class size, school resources or anything else. One study suggests that if black kids could get teachers from the profession’s most effective quartile for four years in a row, the…