General News in the 316

[SHOCKvalue]

We'll see what comes of this. I no longer go down in that area on a regular basis, but damn, hitting a train there around 21st and Broadway(ish). I could casually eat my entire lunch while waiting.

KSN - Wichita to study 21st Street railroad crossing delays



I also didn't realize there was so much vacant land in that area. I'm not surprised when thinking about it, as the trains do disrupt quite a bit. If something could be figured out to keep delays minimal then we might see more economic development in that area and that would be huge for north Wichita.

The reason that area has slowly been deconstructed and made vacant over the years has to do with groundwater contamination. It used to be fully built-out, but has slowly disappeared over the past two or three decades. Parts of it are EPA superfund, while all of it is a real problem. No one wants to invest in development on ground where you inherit contaminated groundwater. All kinds of problems.

[SubGod22]

Another Wichita based company appears to have left town.

WBJ - As Curo reports big quarterly loss, documents indicate HQ move from Wichita to Chicago

Curo Group Holdings' 2022 — a year of transition for the consumer finance company — did not close on a positive financial note, and it now appears as if the company is no longer based in Wichita.

Thursday's fourth quarter 2022 Curo earnings press release shows Chicago as the new base of operations, and recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings indicate the same. One document shows 200 W. Hubbard Street in Chicago as the new address for the "principal executive offices," and 3615 N. Ridge Road in Wichita as its former address.

A WBJ voicemail left with Curo asking for additional details on the shift and the impact on the company's Wichita footprint was not immediately returned.

On Thursday, Curo Group Holdings (NYSE: CURO) reported a net loss of $186.4 million (-$4.60 per share) in last year's fourth quarter. That's more than a six times greater decline than Q4 2021's $28.9 million loss.

The company highlighted a goodwill impairment of $107.8 million in U.S. direct lending, and a $37.4 million impairment in point-of-sale lending, as impacting results.

[SubGod22]

It's not a major entity, but they serve a good purpose and are working to better Wichita.

WBJ - RIDING HIGH - New downtown headquarters expanding Bike Walk Wichita's impact

As the name indicates, the organization focuses on improving the ability to bike and walk safely in the city. Its website says it advocated for over 10 miles of biking infrastructure installed in Wichita last year, and Bike Walk Wichita is set to help with engagement surrounding the new Wichita Bicycle Master Plan — after helping the city with its first one more than a decade ago.

The nonprofit is also involved in health and wellness events, and its ReCycle Shop distributed more than 600 donated bikes to kids and people in need last year.

Now, after closing on its new property across the street from The Wave and Groover Labs last fall, the organization is embarking on a new era — which includes a first-time event in the spring — and could become a hard-to-miss presence.

"It's been quite a journey," said Barry Carroll, who founded Bike Walk Wichita in 2010.

Really a good and educational article if you have access to it. I knew nothing of Bike Walk prior to reading this, and while biking in Wichita has zero impact on me, their work to make downtown Wichita (as well as other areas) more bike and pedestrian friendly will help Wichita move forward, especially in the downtown area if we truly want growth there. People being able to live and work down there and not have to have a car for everything goes a long way.

And I didn't mean to gloss over the fact that they work to repair and get bikes to kids and those less fortunate who need them to get around. I'll have to keep my eyes on them. I already have a favorite non-profit in Wichita, but these guys could get some of my money from time to time.

[SubGod22]

It'll be a few years, but a big step towards helping the child care shortage is on the way.

WBJ - Downtown Wichita building demolished for new $6M child-care center

Located at 718 S. Topeka at the on-ramp to Kellogg, the former Chico's Used Cars building came down Friday to make room for Center City Academy, an early child development center run by a nonprofit organization of the same name that's expected to serve 100 children, from infants up to 5-year-olds.

It will be a $6-million, 13,500 square-foot facility that aims to help address Wichita's shortage of child care availability.

Research shows that the number of available openings in childcare facilities in Sedgwick County can serve only 48% of the number of children under the age of 6 needing care.

“We are thrilled to be taking this important step toward providing Wichita families with convenient, safe and affordable care for their children,” said Conner Hampton, who is CCA's development director and is also involved in a group called the Wichita Coalition for Child Abuse Prevention working to solve the issue of child care availability.

They're hoping to open in 2025.

[SubGod22]

KFH - NHL to return to Wichita

Wichita will once again be host to an NHL Preseason Game on September 23, 2023. The Arizona Coyotes and St. Louis Blues will face off at INTRUST Bank Arena for the second year in a row.

“We are very excited to bring this event back to the people of Wichita,” said Linda Hargrove, President of ProHoops Sports & Events. “The City of Wichita showed up last year and provided a great atmosphere for these teams. We expect an even bigger turnout this year.”

Last year, in the first ever NHL game to be played in the city of Wichita, the St. Louis Blues defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-4 in front of over 8,500 at INTRUST Bank Arena.

Tickets for the “ICT Ice Classic” featuring the Arizona Coyotes and St. Louis Blues will go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 3 at 10:00 a.m. Tickets can be purchased online at selectaseat.com, by phone at 855-755-SEAT (7328) or in person at the Select-A-Seat Box Office at INTRUST Bank Arena. For access to an exclusive presale opportunity on Thursday, March 2, fans can sign-up to receive INTRUST Bank Arena Emails at intrustbankarena.com. Tickets for the “ICT Ice Classic” will be available starting at less than $10.

This is great for Wichita. I do wish we could have had at least one new team involved, but I can't be overly picky about an NHL game played here.

[Kung Wu]

I'm assuming the Goddard study that Baty used is true and if so, it really cuts into the beef that Goddard has with Park City.

Goddard does not have a beef with Park City. We have a 20-nothing child-mayor that wasn't elected, that put himself in the mayor seat via a literal coup d'état by a bunch of know-nothing dumb-dumbs that ALSO weren't elected.

Eff that kid and everything he represents.

[NCAABound]

Wichita unveils new $400M riverbank plan that saves Century II and former library

https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article272623955.html

For an estimated $400 million, the city of Wichita would transform the east bank to a “new heart of the city,” Layton said. The largest cost is a $170 million expansion of the Bob Brown Convention Center. The plan also calls for investing $55 million in the iconic blue-domed Century II building and $15 million in the neighboring former library building.

Under the plan, Century II would be repurposed. The southern half of the building would be converted to a 30,000-square-foot ballroom connected to the expanded convention center by an underground walkway. A commercial-sized kitchen would also be added to the blue dome. The northern half of the building would be upgraded.

[SubGod22]

Yet still absolutely zero plans for performing arts, which is the main reason Century II is a problem.

They have zero plans on what to actually do with Century II.

No mention of what the plan is with the library.

I still don't understand the love of the blue roof.

Is this really a plan? Or is just a way to shut up the save Century II people for a while?

The only real specifics is a $160M pedestrian bridge and expanded convention space.

The rest of it sounds like putting money into something with no idea as to what the purpose will be.

Did I miss something? Or misunderstand something?

[NCAABound]

Yet still absolutely zero plans for performing arts, which is the main reason Century II is a problem.

They have zero plans on what to actually do with Century II.

No mention of what the plan is with the library.

I still don't understand the love of the blue roof.

Is this really a plan? Or is just a way to shut up the save Century II people for a while?

The only real specifics is a $160M pedestrian bridge and expanded convention space.

The rest of it sounds like putting money into something with no idea as to what the purpose will be.

Did I miss something? Or misunderstand something?

That's pretty much the gist of it unfortunately. I'm not sure why they love these pedestrian bridge ideas so much when they are cost prohibitive and Douglas & Maple/Lewis are not that far away.

[WstateU]

Yet still absolutely zero plans for performing arts, which is the main reason Century II is a problem.

They have zero plans on what to actually do with Century II.

No mention of what the plan is with the library.

I still don't understand the love of the blue roof.

Is this really a plan? Or is just a way to shut up the save Century II people for a while?

The only real specifics is a $160M pedestrian bridge and expanded convention space.

The rest of it sounds like putting money into something with no idea as to what the purpose will be.

Did I miss something? Or misunderstand something?

Say it ain't so, Joe...

[SubGod22]

That's pretty much the gist of it unfortunately. I'm not sure why they love these pedestrian bridge ideas so much when they are cost prohibitive and Douglas & Maple/Lewis are not that far away.

They're aesthetically pleasing and you don't have to worry about traffic. But the cost is insane.

I'm no fan of CII, but if they could come up with an actual reason to salvage it other than the stupid roof, I'm open to it. Keeping it just to keep seems dumb. Same with the library.

And them touting the costs savings is such a political move considering they openly admit that it doesn't include a new performing arts center, which is going to cost money.

[ShockerFever]

This city just loves staying in the past.

[Kung Wu]

Yet still absolutely zero plans for performing arts, which is the main reason Century II is a problem.

They have zero plans on what to actually do with Century II.

I still think they should add a bunch of lights around the perimeter of the roof, mount some rocket boosters underneath it, and then launch that bad boy over Denver. I'd pay good money to see the reactions of a bunch of doped up Coloradoans catching THAT video with their mobile phone cams.

[Kung Wu]

[SubGod22]

I believe this might be of interest to some, as I think it was talked about at least briefly in this or another thread.

WBJ - Kansas Star Casino owners vie for video horse racing with $160M Park City development plan

The owners of Kansas Star Casino have submitted an application to the state proposing the construction a new historical horse-racing gaming facility in Park City.

Called Diamond Jo Park City, the proposed facility will be a $160 million entertainment district, including up to 1,000 horse-racing machines, a steakhouse, cocktail lounge, a FanDuel-themed sports bar, a meeting and convention space and what's expected to be the first Amazon Go store in Kansas.
.....
Sports betting legislation signed into law last year cleared the way for the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission to license an operator of up to 1,000 historical horse-racing machines in Sedgwick County. The form of electronic gambling allows users to place bets on terminal machines before the replay of a randomly selected horse race that has already happened.

The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission put out a request for applicants, and Boyd Gaming said it submitted a proposal Tuesday.
.....

Boyd Gaming's proposal involves a 100,000-square-foot indoor facility planned for 27 acres south of Hartman Arena at the northwest corner of I-135 and 77th Street — across the interstate from Crosswinds Casino.

"What we've tried to do is to take those slots and then build around it a full entertainment experience," Clinton said. "We understand how HHRs operate. We understand them to function like slot machines. I think it's a disservice to the vision of the legislation, let's say, if you just kind of put them in a warehouse, so what we want to do with a ground-up development that allowed us to really design around ... how do you create a social entertainment experience?"
.....
The Park City facility, though, if it moves forward, will be Boyd's first that will have only HHR machines.

Under Kansas laws, Boyd will not be able to offer in-person sports wagering like it does at Kansas Star Casino, nor any other casino gaming.

"This is why a wholesome, holistic proposal is necessary, so anyone who says, 'Hey, we're going to have 1,000 slots and a hot-dog machine and life is going to be good,' they missed the boat," Clinton said. "You don't have table games. You don't have sports betting. You don't have a lot of the leverage that casinos need."
.....
He added that the $160-million project will be funded by private capital without the use of public subsidies.

"The good news for Park City is that since we're not using public incentives, those incentives are available for others in the area, that want to develop and grow the community," Laham said.

If approved, Boyd projects the facility will generate more than $90 million in annual economic impact and create 350 direct jobs with an average pay of about $57,000.

Park City continues to make moves.

Ruffin has also submitted a proposal to put these machines at Wichita Greyhound Park.

I don't know what the Ruffin proposal looks like, but I have to admit that the Boyd plan looks good from what we know.

I don't personally understand HHR and don't really pay attention to horse racing in general so I can't really speak to that. But surrounding it with other options that can help draw people in is smart. The location works great being right off 135 and essentially next door to Hartman Arena and Crosswinds Casino.