Have you ever wondered what all those cranes by the zoo are for? Here’s your answer

Of all the places around Wichita that people drive past and wonder what’s under construction, there’s one that seems to be more common than any other.

It’s the city’s future water treatment facility near 21st and Hoover across from the Sedgwick County Zoo.

“I’ve been getting questions ever since they started site work on it, which was last summer,” said City Council member Bryan Frye.

There had already been activity at the site before the official October 2020 groundbreaking, but Frye said, “That’s when the questions really started to happen.”

There had been construction at the zoo, too, and some people thought the cranes across the street must be for that.

“To this day there are people who ask me what’s being built across from the zoo,” Frye said.

He patiently explains that it’s a project that’s been in the works his entire six years on the Council.

“That was one of the main things I ran on,” he said. “What are we doing about our water infrastructure?”

Then Frye tells people how this is an approximately half a billion dollar project on 40 acres.

“Everybody’s just taken aback,” he said.

“It’s a massive project. . . . People are just still amazed at those numbers.”

There are four cranes on site, including, Frye said, “two of the largest cranes I’ve ever seen in Wichita.”

Frye isn’t judging anyone for not knowing what’s going on, but he is surprised.

“This is the single-largest one-time infrastructure project the city has ever tackled, and it’s just amazing to me that people still aren’t aware of it.”

He said the first part of the plant will be ready in 2024.

Frye said he remembers the first time he walked into the existing water treatment plant and was taken aback to see a dedication plaque featuring the name Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

“That should give you some pause that maybe it’s time to reinvest in some infrastructure.”

Frye said that plant clearly was built well to have lasted this long, “But it’s also time to really take care of our infrastructure and take care of our future, and that’s what this plant is.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 4:17 AM.