General News in the 316

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WBJ - Wichita arts groups generated more than $184 million in economic activity last year

A national arts group found Wichita's nonprofit arts organizations are leaving a large economic footprint.

Americans for the Arts conducted an Arts and Economic Prosperity Study to gauge the economic impact of the arts in Wichita and in more than 370 regions.

In 2022, the arts generated more than $184 million in economic activity in Wichita, the report said.

"There's so much more money out there being generated," said Lindsay Benacka, director of the Division of Arts and Cultural Services for the city of Wichita. "We're just looking at this slice of nonprofit as a general admission."

Nonprofit arts organizations in Wichita support slightly less than 3,000 jobs, spend about $78 million and generate more than $106 million in audience revenue, according to the study that was released in the fall. Wichita's tax revenue from the arts was about $4 million.

The numbers top both Topeka and Johnson County.

Of note, this does not include music venues, comedy clubs, dinner theaters or commercial art galleries.

They figure about a quarter of the audience is from outside the Wichita metro.

In 2015, Wichita checked in at $95 million.

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If you haven't been out to see Doc in his hanger and hear about the history you should really check it out. We went as a team building thing a while back and they have a nice setup with some good information.

KSN - B-29 Doc will kick off 2024 tour season in Wichita

The 2024 B-29 Doc History Restored Tour will kick off with a season-opening weekend on March 8-10 in Wichita and will coincide with the B-29 Doc & WSU Tech Foundation Pull a Plane event, which is scheduled for Saturday, March 9.

“The upcoming 2024 tour not only marks Doc’s eighth season since its restoration in 2016 but also launches a year-long tribute commemorating the 80th anniversary of when Doc was built by the Boeing Company in Wichita in 1944,” Josh Wells, B-29 Doc executive director, said.

Women known as “Rosie the Riveters” built the aircraft, Wells added.

Tickets for the 2024 Tour Season Launch weekend in Wichita are on sale now by clicking here.

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KAKE - Four elephants at Sedgwick County Zoo are expecting babies

More than two months after announcing that two elephant pregnancies, the Sedgwick County Zoo now says two more are expecting.

The zoo said in October that African elephants Simunye and Talia were expecting. Thursday's announcement adds Xolani and Arusi to the mix. They are between four and seven months pregnant.

“Elephants are pregnant for about 22 months,” said Lauren Ripple, zoo elephant care manager, in October.

It's a pretty huge deal to have 4 of them expecting at the same time. Gonna be a big 2025 at SCZ!

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This definitely fills a need and hopefully it's done correctly and helps those in need that can't get it elsewhere.

KSN - New transitional home could help meet Sedgwick County need

A women-only transitional home is scheduled to open next month in Wichita. It’s the only housing run by a nonprofit that’s specifically for adult women in Sedgwick County.

The new 15-bed transitional home is called The Empowerment Center. The building of this home was commissioned by the nearby Bibleway Community Church, which used donations to pay for it. The church says the goal is to help what they point to as a sometimes underserved demographic.

The Empowerment Center transitional home is almost ready to open after several months of construction.

“Think about what kind of stress that would bring if you didn’t have a roof over your head,” said Jeffrey Enlow, The Empowerment Center’s chief visionary officer. “If you had to sleep on the street.”
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Amanda Meyers is the executive director of the Wichita Family Crisis Center, a shelter serving women and children escaping domestic violence situations.

“We have probably the highest number of kids in our shelter that we’ve had in at least 6 months, and that kind of coincides with what we typically see this time of year,” Meyers said.

According to her, the center has to redirect callers all the time because they don’t have room to take in women who aren’t in crisis situations. She hopes The Empowerment Center can help fill that gap in services.

“This is just helping women to get on their feet,” Enlow said. “They’re in crisis. This is gonna help them get settled and safe.”

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More help for those struggling with substance abuse is on the way.

WBJ - Salvation Army to open 21-bed recovery center in downtown Wichita

After running a 200-bed recovery center in Chicago, Maj. Nancy Powers, co-leader of the South Central Area Command Salvation Army, is bringing a similar facility to Wichita.

"The Salvation Army is going to open a facility that will allow folks to get the substance-use treatment that they need to really be able to make a lasting change in their life," Powers said.

Wichita's Hutton will begin construction on the 21-bed substance unit within the next 2 weeks, and Powers said she hopes the $800,000 project will be complete by the end of March.

With donor money, including estate money left to the nonprofit, and a $150,000 grant from the Thomas Lyle Williams Trust, the Salvation Army is renovating an unused portion of the second floor at its Wichita Downtown Koch Center location at 350 N. Market St. The location used to house a juvenile delinquent foster care correctional program that has sat vacant for more than 20 years, Powers said.

National average is a 75% success rate for those seeking addiction treatment. The Chicago location that Powers ran was 85%.

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KSN - New public art to be installed in downtown Wichita

New public art will installed on South Commerce Street and South Saint Francis Avenue between East Waterman Street and Kellogg Drive. Construction is anticipated to begin in early 2024 and be completed in early 2025.
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Concrete Cloud by Eric Schmidt

According to the City of Wichita Department of Public Works & Utilities, Concrete Cloud will be a series of sculptural benches exploring the physical principles of aerodynamics and the motion of electrons. They will be created with cast concrete and will have LED underlighting.

There will be eight benches down South Commerce Street and South Saint Francis Avenue, “providing gathering areas for reflection and further discovery.”

The benches will be paired with other public artworks, which the City says will further reinforce the connection between functional and aesthetic landscape components.

Electric Chameleons by John Harrison and Meghan Miller

According to the City of Wichita Department of Public Works & Utilities, Electric Chameleons will be an interactive installation created from salvaged civic infrastructural equipment that has morphed into nature.

“The colorful rocky additions are inspired by native Winfield limestone, a highly textured strong full of holes and fossils,” the City said. “By merging equipment and stone, the artists hint at an impossible event – the collision of two points in history millions of years apart.”

The sculptural elements will include motion-activated sound and light elements.

Highwire by Kent Williams

According to the City of Wichita Department of Public Works & Utilities, Highwire will be a gateway sculpture that landmarks the district’s north entrance at the corner of South Commerce Street and East Waterman Street, animating place and engaging visitors.

“The sculpture is an engaging play on the historic high wire infrastructure of the district – reflecting and extending the visual context of Commerce Street’s existing power poles with luminous bird-like characters perching 35-40 feet in the sky,” said the City.

The sculpture will be made from weathering steel, polished stainless steel, and polychrome and will have a custom and programmable LEW lighting system.

No clue what goes into all of this or how it will look in the end, but I do like that the city tries to have art features down there. It gives the district a little more character.

Not saying that any one piece is going to draw in visitors, but you never know what could become of things.

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KSN - Wichita flights direct to Washington, D.C. start Monday

Flights from Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport to Washington Regan National Airport start Monday, Jan. 8.

Last July, Sen. Jerry Moran announced that American Airlines would offer the direct flight daily.

The flights will be on 76-seat Embraer-175 aircraft.

• Depart Washington at 11:30 a.m. ET and arrive in Wichita at 1:45 p.m. CT
• Depart Wichita at 3:30 p.m. CT and arrive in Washington at 7:15 p.m. ET

From Washington, American Airlines connects to 85 destinations.

I think this one has the potential to give Wichita and Ike a boost. Having a direct connection to the nations capitol definitely isn't a bad thing.

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That's a long time on a Embraer 175.

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WBJ - Wichita's airport sets November record for passengers

Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport set a passenger record in November with more than 150,000 passengers in and out — a 4% increase over the 2018 November record.

November’s passenger count rose over November 2022 by 11%.

Increased routes helped contribute to increased passenger travel. The introduction of nonstop services to Phoenix and Miami by American Airlines, along with Southwest Airlines resuming daily service to Las Vegas, helped increase passenger demand.

I'm really curious to see how the '24 numbers look as we appear to have recovered, for the most part, from the Covid slowdown.

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It's happening

WBJ - Wichita's first Culver's receives its commercial building permit

Late last month, a commercial building permit valued at $3 million was issued for the construction and development of the fast-casual chain's debut restaurant in the city near 29th and Maize Road in northwest Wichita.

Nick Campe, the local Culver's franchisee, said he expects construction to begin by the end of the month, with a targeted opening this summer.

The restaurant will be at 3220 N. Maize Road, north of 29th Street near IHOP and Life.Church West Wichita.

Known for its butter burgers, cheese curds and custard, the Wisconsin-based chain has over 900 locations across 26 states, including restaurants in Topeka, Lawrence and the Kansas City area.

In addition to Culver's, Wichita has seen a string of national brands show interest in coming to the city.

The likes of Fatburger, Dutch Bros and Paris Baguette made local debuts in recent years, while Whataburger, Hawaiian Bros and The Melting Pot are among those with goals of opening their first Wichita-area locations by early 2025.

Shipley Do-Nuts is another national company with local arrival ambitions.

I believe Jack In The Box was also looking for a franchisee for the Wichita market. Haven't heard anything since this past summer on it. I think they were the ones looking at opening 25 or so locations in the metro in the next 5 years.

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Wichita officially has a direct connection with DC

WBJ - Wichita airport celebrates first nonstop flight to Washington, D.C.

More than 50 passengers boarded the inaugural flight from Eisenhower National Airport to Washington, D.C., on Monday.

In addition to government officials, tourists and business leaders, a representative from American Airlines (NYSE: AAL) was aboard the 77-seat aircraft headed for Reagan National Airport.

Philip Newman, American's managing director of regulatory and congressional affairs, said it's unusual for an airline to offer three new flights in and out of an airport in such a short period of time. Last fall, the airline opened the Miami and Phoenix market's nonstop flights to Wichita.

"It's great to link the capital with the Air Capital," Newman said.

I think we can thank an aggressive leadership team on seeking out new direct destinations for ICT.

U.S. Rep. Ron Estes (R-Wichita) was also on the inaugural flight. He said Washington is a prime tourist and business destination for Kansans and the flight to the nation's capital will help with industry and tourism.

"We're talking about the growth in Wichita and the opportunities here," Estes said. "We still have the capability to expand the airport here and actually add more flights, not just on American, but other airlines as well."

A representative from Bombardier and Blue Cross Blue Shield were also taking the flight, as was Harvey County commissioner Becky Reimer.

I can't imagine this not being a positive for the business community here.

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WBJ - Phil Ruffin's Golden Circle Casino development gets zoning go-ahead in Park City

In July, the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission awarded the billionaire casino mogul's development group a license to operate 1,000 historic horse-racing machines at the site of the former Wichita Greyhound Park.

The city's decision Tuesday approved the rezoning of a general commercial office district to an entertainment district and service business district at the northwest corner of 77th and Hydraulic, and permitted a casino and historic horse-racing special use within that entertainment district.

Ruffin's Golden Circle casino group plans to build a hotel, restaurants and entertainment around the machines, which allow patrons to bet on past horse races without any information about the race.

Pad sites for potential restaurant and other uses are located directly south of the former greyhound park.

The entertainment and service business district rezoning passed 8-0, while the casino and historic horse-racing special use passed 7-1 — with Council member George Glover voting against.

I'm still unsure of how big a deal this truly is, but I hope it works out and is something worthwhile. Ruffin isn't an idiot so there must be value in this historical horse racing thing.

Construction work has already been progressing at the over 70-acre site. The casino is expected to open by early 2025.

Ruffin previously told the WBJ that the project would cost between $100 million and $150 million.

For Ruffin, last summer's Racing and Gaming Commission decision marked the end of a 15-year journey that started when he was denied a license to operate slot machines at Wichita Greyhound Park in 2008.

I suppose being located across the street from CrossWinds won't hurt the rest of the district regardless of how the HHR works out.

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Sounds like the old Downtown Warren space will once again be home to a theater.

Eagle - It looks like a new occupant is coming to the former Warren Old Town Theater

It appears that a new occupant is coming to the former Warren Old Town theater and that the new owner likely will return a theater there.

According to a filing that ran in The Eagle this week, Boulevard Theatres has filed an environmental waiver application at 353 N. Mead (although both the street and company name were misspelled when the city made the listing).

Tyler Cooper, who owns Boulevard Theatres with business partner Ryan Blasdel, said he’s not able to comment on the filing.

Assuming Boulevard doesn't screw it up, this should be a good thing for downtown. I think there's value in having the theater there and with the continued growth in the center of the city it should be a nice asset.

[SHOXAAC]

Sounds like the old Downtown Warren space will once again be home to a theater.

Eagle - It looks like a new occupant is coming to the former Warren Old Town Theater



Assuming Boulevard doesn't screw it up, this should be a good thing for downtown. I think there's value in having the theater there and with the continued growth in the center of the city it should be a nice asset.

How long has this location been vacant?

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How long has this location been vacant?

End of July. It closed shortly after Cineworld filed bankruptcy and started closing a number of locations and trying to reword their rental deals at other locations.