News

Posted on Tue, Oct. 20, 2009

e-mail	print	RSS	reprint
AIM	Digg it	del.icio.us	Facebook

Landfill site could be future park, lake

BY BRENT D. WISTROM

The Wichita Eagle

Could a 420-acre swath of prairie next to a landfill one day become a park with a large lake and regional attractions like a pulley system that tugs water-skiers and wakeboarders around?

Wichita Park Board members think so — and, today, Wichita City Council members will reflect on the idea during a workshop discussion.

The conceptual plan for a Kingsbury Park northeast of K-96 and Hoover Road would create a 215-acre lake dredged by sand mining, which Quik Sand Inc. has already started. The full lake could take another 15 years to build.

But once complete — and if the city can find $60æmillion to $100æmillion — it could be the site of 14 miles of trails, water sports, a festival lawn that could handle 20,000 people, scuba diving, large-scale picnic areas, paddleboat rentals and swimming beaches.

All are concepts envisioned in a new master plan produced by Omaha-based RDG Planning & Design.

Most of the ideas would need more study, funding and political support. But the ideas got park board members excited at their meeting Monday.

“Can we start tomorrow?” park board member John Stevens asked after hearing the plan.

Parks and Recreation director Doug Kupper estimated the plan could cost $60æmillion to $100æmillion. It’s unclear how the city would pay for it.

But park board members talked about a ¼-cent sales tax as a possibility, particularly if the city embarks on a sales tax referendum for something else, such as downtown development or property tax relief.

In addition to water activities, the plan calls for several buildings.

One would be a 40,000-square-foot special-events building; others would be simple enclosed shelters for smaller events. It also calls for an open-air shelter area for company picnics and a 1,500-square-foot building to house sales, concession stands and motors for the cable-pulled water-skiing system.

Kupper said he would like the lake to be at least 40 feet deep in some areas, which would allow people to get certified for deep-water scuba diving. He suggested the city look into getting an aviation company to donate a plane to sink in the lake for divers to explore.

Roughly 25** acres of the park would be mowed grass. The rest would concentrate on the area’s natural habitat — prairie and light woods.

The park could also get most of its energy from wind, solar and methane sources.

The city bought the Kingsbury property to expand the Brooks Landfill but later canceled that plan. In 1997, the council classified the land for open space, park and wetland use.

In 2004, the city agreed to a deal with Quik Sand Inc. to mine for sand. The contract showed a 15-year cash flow to the city of $2.25 million, with $750,000 of that guaranteed.

** CORRECTION: This figure corrects an amount that was wrong in the original version of this story, published Tuesday. Return to story.

Reach Brent D. Wistrom at 316-268-6228 or bwistrom@wichitaeagle.com.