Wink Hartman Sr. may be selling his namesake Park City arena to another Wichitan

Almost 15 years after opening Hartman Arena in Park City, Wink Hartman Sr. is preparing to sell it.

Jeff Lange of Lange Real Estate is the buyer through an entity called TCRS LLC.

Neither Hartman nor Lange are discussing the deal yet.

TCRS made an application for industrial revenue bonds with Park City. The amount depends partly on what the arena is appraised for.

Administrator Sean Fox said the City Council approved a resolution to show its intent to issue IRBs in support of the arena, though it hasn’t stipulated how much support that will be.

“The resolution they adopted is just the first phase in the process,” Fox said.

He said TCRS requested 100% tax abatement for 10 years, but he said, “The Council was hesitant to do that.”

Park City already gave Hartman 100% tax abatement for a decade when he opened the arena.

However, Fox said Park City is interested in more potential abatement to help keep the arena an arena.

“That was one of the things that was always a possibility, that the arena could be sold, and it could be reused.”

Fox said the arena not only is good for Park City, it’s good for north-central Sedgwick County. He said there’s an unquestionable economic benefit, even after a difficult time due to the pandemic.

“It is absolutely amazing how they have been able to bounce back,” Fox said. “Their schedule is getting more and more filled every day.”

One of the stipulations of the potential IRBs is that the arena must stay an arena.

Look for more on the possible IRBS, probably in late March.

This story was originally published February 13, 2023 at 1:56 PM.