Tired of ‘losing to Wichita constantly,’ developer to open large new venue — and more

Goddard resident and nascent developer Ben Healy said he’s tired of “just losing to Wichita constantly,” so this week he’s opening OutWest, a new 2,000- to 3,000-person outdoor venue on more than 9 acres at the southeast corner of Kellogg and 183rd.

“We’re losing our customers that are out here for ballgames,” Healy said of people from around the region visiting the Genesis Sports Complex and other ball fields in the area. “We’re losing those customers to Wichita.”

OutWest will have a bar, concessions, food trucks, entertainment and outdoor-type games.

“People are looking for places to hang out that are not fast food before and after games . . . or just on the weekends with a group of friends,” said Rachel Bowyer, who handles business development for Healy Investments.

“We’ll try to have live music on the weekends,” she said.

There will be other forms of entertainment at certain times, such as possibly ax throwing or maybe dueling pianos.

The grand opening is Friday and Saturday.

Summer hours will be 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, noon to midnight Friday and Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

OutWest will be open other seasons, too.

“We plan to have seasonal activities in the fall and winter,” Bowyer said.

That could be a pumpkin patch or a Christmas tree farm.

“It’s still in the works.”

Healy said Goddard is both of their hometowns, and they’re involved in the community.

“We want to do stuff close to home,” he said. “There’s definitely a need . . . for some type of entertainment.”

Healy said it’s about providing families with something fun and inexpensive.

He said when he pitched it to city leaders, he told them, “I’m tired of losing to Wichita. Let’s do something here.”

In addition to serving the community of Goddard, Healy said he wants to give others a reason to visit the city.

“They can come out, listen to music, the kids can play some of the yard games and run around.”

Healy used to own Healy Biodiesel in Sedgwick and was known for collecting restaurant grease for conversion.

He sold the company last year and has been focusing on land and business development.

Healy is planning a 53-acre development just south of OutWest for future commercial and residential uses.

That includes town homes, single-family homes, a three-story apartment complex with approximately 130 units, restaurants, retail, service businesses and medical.

With a lot of ponds and sidewalks, Healy said, “It’ll be very outdoor oriented.”

He’s also already planning a sports bar.

“It’s going to be way more awesome than just a sports bar,” Healy said.

It likely will incorporate OutWest, which will move a bit further south at that time — maybe after 2025.

“We’ll make a grander OutWest type of place there,” Healy said.

That will be earlier than the rest of the development, but it’s all going to take a while, Healy said.

There’s quite a bit of work to do on the floodplain, so it’ll probably be at least a year before the project can start, and it could be a decade before it’s all done.

Healy also is prepping land for development in Oklahoma.

The last couple of months, his main focus has been OutWest.

He’s getting some quick lessons in dealing with the media and with the slow pace of development.

“Things take a lot of time,” Healy said.

“It’s a lot of capital involved, and so money’s just flying,” he said. “It’s definitely a lot.”