Dion Lefler’s recent piece in the Wichita Eagle about the ups and downs of Wichita’s AA baseball team the Wichita Wind Surge has me thinking about our expectations of what a new state park will mean for Allen County.
Lefler recalled how in 2020 it appeared a new day was dawning in Wichita with a new baseball park and team.
In 2018, Wichita tore down Lawrence Stadium, a Works Progress Administration project built in 1933, and replaced it with Riverfront Baseball Stadium. The stadium was a $75 million investment by Wichita taxpayers — a big ask of city leaders.
Meanwhile, the city also bought a new baseball team, the former New Orleans Baby Cakes, which they renamed. The ball club contributed almost $10 million to the stadium’s construction.
As part of the incentive package, Wichita leaders agreed to “sell” four acres surrounding the stadium at $1 an acre with the understanding the new owners would develop it into a business, retail and dining mecca.
That perk probably would have slipped under the radar had the new owners not substantially raised the prices for tickets, concessions and memorabilia with the intent of fans financing the property’s development.
Resentment built, according to Lefler. Despite the team’s success, attendance plummeted to the bottom of the league.
New ownership came on board in December, 2022. Prices were adjusted. Local promotions are bringing people to the stands. Attendance Tuesday and Wednesday were at an all-time high.
Things are looking up.
End of story? Not quite.
The promised development around the stadium never happened, mainly because of COVID-19.
And the new owners want nothing to do with it.
Wichitans feel betrayed.
“All this time has passed and nothing has been built,” a reader posted on Lefler’s story. “No hotel, no office buildings, [or] restaurants that would make someone want to hang out before the game … so we won’t keep hearing there’s nothing to do here.”
In short, the reader felt taxpayers had been defrauded.
LOCAL EFFORTS to drum up voter support to build a new hospital and a new elementary school frequently included a “build-it-and-they-will-come” philosophy.
Has it played out?
In 2009, the future of Allen County Hospital was grim. The 50-year-old building was ill-suited for modern day medical services and management was unwilling to invest in needed upgrades.
City and county officials took it upon themselves to move the needle and in 2010 voters overwhelmingly approved a quarter-cent sales tax to help fund the $30 million project that opened in 2013.
