Plan envisions warm, walkable downtown
"Dixon and Carlson see a safe, friendly downtown that is fun for pedestrians, featuring open first-floor storefronts, sidewalk attractions and parking that invite visitors to get out and take a look as they move between anchor attractions like Intrust Bank Arena and Old Town." (Click here to read the entire article and view images from the draft plan)
Plan evisions warm, walkable downtown
The Wichita Eagle - By Bill Wilson
June 20, 2010
Wichita needs to create communities downtown, a team of East Coast consultants said last week as they began to add detail to their vision of a revitalized center city.
Even if creating that "ensemble of experiences" entails stretching the rules a bit.
"We were really struck as we were driving the other day to see that the most well-used public space in Wichita was the (Hyatt) fountain downtown," said David Dixon, the Boston-based consultant leading downtown revitalization planning for Goody Clancy.
"A site with a sign that says, 'Please do not play in the water,' " said Ben Carlson, an associate at Goody Clancy working on the Wichita downtown plan.
"But fortunately the parents and their kids knew better. It was a great place to be on a warm day."
Goody Clancy's first detailed look at revitalizing downtown had a theme: Fix the planning mistakes of the past three decades.
They targeted mistakes like wide, impersonal streets, underutilized public spaces like Kennedy Plaza near Century II, and sterile first floors on buildings throughout downtown that give pedestrians no clue about the activity inside.
Goody Clancy, which will return in September with a final comprehensive proposal for downtown, is conducting several meetings in the area next month seeking ideas and suggestions from the public.
For now the plan has no price tag. Nor have the city or consultants yet suggested a way to pay for all the proposed downtown improvements.
Dixon and Carlson see a safe, friendly downtown that is fun for pedestrians, featuring open first-floor storefronts, sidewalk attractions and parking that invite visitors to get out and take a look as they move between anchor attractions like Intrust Bank Arena and Old Town.
It's a vision supplementing Wichita's suburbs, not competing with them, Dixon said — a vision that should help recruit and retain talented professionals.
Dixon said that cities compete economically with each other based on their successes downtown, not in suburban areas.
"Cities compete around downtown because it's downtowns that more than any place in the region helps retain and attract the bright, skilled people of any age who are the foundation and future of your economy," he said.
The consultants see downtown as a collection of 12 distinct districts that need to be linked, the goal of the revitalization plan.
Already, city and downtown officials are working with Cargill to develop a compatible design for Cargill's new innovation center on Wichita Street between First and Second streets.
A public-private partnership raised a little more than $500,000 to finance the comprehensive downtown plan.
Dixon and Carlson talked extensively about where downtown needs hotels, niche retail, office space and public spaces that can bring residents and visitors together.
Included in their initial presentation last week were Douglas in front of Century II, Broadway and William, Douglas at St. Francis, Douglas at Union Station, the Second and St. Francis area, First Street at the river and the proposed library site on McLean near the river.
Some highlights:
* Douglas at Century II — New niche retail on the north side of the street from Century II, a new hotel at Douglas and Main, possible expansion of Century II to handle more conventions, turning Century II's Kennedy Plaza on Douglas from a loading zone to a gathering place.
* Broadway and William — The former Henry's building remodeled for office and niche retail, more housing, a small park and new lofts on the old Allis Hotel space commemorating the structure's history.
* Douglas at St. Francis — An upgraded and expanded Naftzger Park, a new hotel, new and rehabilitated housing, conversion of the Spaghetti Works building into housing.
* Douglas at Union Station — Create new housing and office space over first-floor retail shops by building new buildings where there are now parking lots. The concept also includes new parking structures to replace the lost surface lots, a signaled crosswalk at a traditionally dangerous crossing and retail, restaurants and offices in Union Station.
* St. Francis and Second, dubbed Old Town West — Housing, a public park on the currently contaminated Coleman site, curbside parking and public parking lots.
* First Street at the river — Housing and office space near the Cargill headquarters and its proposed innovation center, lofts and dining along the river and a public park with river access. Drury Southwest has already launched a yearlong, $30 million renovation of the Broadview Hotel.
* The new library site on McLean — A public gathering place, including lofts, a concert green featuring an amphitheater, a public square, the new library, dining, and boat and bike rental.
More concepts are coming for downtown's other districts, before the Goody Clancy plan is complete in September.
In the meantime, Dixon urged Wichitans to think about the "ensemble of experiences" they want in those districts.
"Urban design is about the ability of places to invite us to see ourselves, our aspirations, the kind of experiences we want in the places we live, work and shop," Dixon said.