NOVEMBER 7TH 2011



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II THE CRANES OF DOWNTOWN WICHITA



Coleman Construction(2)


Sedgwick County / City of Wichita / Rotary Foundation / Coleman
Project Budget - $2.3M
Projected Completion Date - Dec. 2011

 

This project has four public/private sector partners. Sedgwick County is redeveloping the previous Coleman Warehouse site to accommodate parking for the INTRUST Bank Arena. The Downtown Rotary Club Foundation is providing a new urban park celebrating their centennial year and Coleman is contributing funds for a monument to commemorate Coleman's first manufacturing site. The City of Wichita is implementing new streets and streetscape for two consecutive city blocks. See below. 

 

 



St_Francis_crane


St. Francis Streetscaping Improvements
Project Budget - $2.4M
Projected Completion Date - Spring 2012 
 

The City of Wichita is reconstructing St. Francis Street from Douglas to 2nd Street. This streetscape transformation will convert the existing one-way configuration to two-way and also provide angled parking. In addition to improved infrastructure, the streetscape improvements will add amenities such as street trees, new lighting, benches and decorative pavers. The revitalized streetscaping will complement the mix of retail, restaurants and interactive public spaces that are emerging along the corridor as well as provide an important pedestrian link between the INTRUST Bank Arena and Old Town.

 

 



YMCA_Construction


Central Family YMCA
Project Budget - $23M
Projected Completion Date - 2012
 
The Wichita YMCA is constructing a new Downtown location, 110,000 square feet. The facility will house the system's corporate offices as well as a new state of the art work-out and activity facility. The project is developing approximately � of a city block adjacent to City Hall and the Sedgwick County Courthouse. The new facility is expected to serve 30,000 people throughout the area. There are more than 103,000 people within a three-mile radius of the new Downtown YMCA location. The Greater YMCA serves more than 250,000 kids and adults. 

 

 



Cathedral_Construction(2)


The Catholic Diocese - St. Mary Cathedral
Project Budget - $16M
Projected Completion Date - 4th Quarter 2012
 

The Catholic Diocese is funding the renovation of the historic St. Mary's Cathedral located at Broadway and Central. The renovations include restoring the 105 foot dome and incorporating additional lighting to highlight its architectural details. All buildings on the campus will be connected by a new covered structure, which will serve as a gathering space as well. The renovations and construction will be completed by the end of 2012 to celebrate the Cathedral's 100-year anniversary.

 




Ambassador Hotel


Ambassador Hotel
Project Budget - $30M
Projected Completion Date - Dec. 2012 
 

A development team is renovating the historic 14-story Douglas Avenue Building into a 117 room Boutique Hotel. This historic building is located at the prime corner of Douglas Avenue and Broadway. The City of Wichita will construct a parking garage with approximately 280 spaces and 8,400 square feet of retail space facing William Street. The City will also construct a new urban park that will connect the new garage and the historic hotel. The alleys on the block will be reworked to make them more compatible with pedestrian and vehicles, as well as adding to Downtown's mid-block circulation patterns. Two weeks ago the Kansas Health Foundation announced a $9 million expansion in this same block. More information on this project will follow in a subsequent Downtown Development update.

 

 



PaleySculpture


Albert Paley Sculpture Installation
Project Budget - $350,000
 

The Albert Paley Sculpture, located at the NE corner of the WaterWalk development at Waterman and Main Street, is a contemporary sculpture comprised of bronze, stainless and Cor-Ten steel. The 38-foot-tall metal sculpture will be an icon for our downtown and will create a sense of place with the large surrounding plaza and bosque of river birch trees that act as a backdrop. The sweeping upward motions of the sculpture are meant to signify Wichita's aviation heritage while the earth-tone colors of the bronze and Cor-Ten steel are suggestive of the natural environment significant to our Native American Indian heritage.

 
 
See a full list of under construction, completed, and proposed projects.

II DOWNTOWN SPOTLIGHT

Project_Downtown

The plan focuses on key areas of our downtown, illustrating the potential we have as a community to grow. The plan has overwhelming support from the private and public sectors. A blueprint for our future, it benefits the public and private sector when making decisions, being strategic with public sector investment so we, as a community, maximize private sector investment.


Douglas Avenue Design
 Douglas_rendering7

 

On October 27th, the final open house and public presentation was held at the Bank of America Center. If you were unable to attend, you can still provide feedback for the 3rd online survey here. The plan and recommendations will be presented to City staff and advisory boards over the coming weeks; the final plan will then be presented to the City Council for endorsement.


Dwell Magazine
Dwell Magazine featured the Finn Lofts, located at 430 S. Commerce in Downtown Wichita, in "Building Community", an article in their October 2011 issue.
Dwell_Magazine_Article
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