‘We need more nice stuff down south.’ Wichita to build $1.4 million park event center
South Wichita will soon have a new place for weddings, family parties and other gatherings.
The City Council is poised to give final approval Tuesday to funding for a $1.4 million, four-season facility at O.J. Watson Park that will hold parties of about 100-120.
“We need more nice stuff down south,” said Mayor Brandon Whipple, who lives in the area.
The plan envisions an indoor-outdoor venue, fully enclosed but with large roll-up doors that can be open to the outside during favorable weather, said Troy Houtman, parks and recreation director.
“We’ve been getting a lot of requests for meetings over at O.J. Watson Park,” Houtman said. “It’s something we’ve been wanting to do for about three years.”
The new center will have a kitchen and a “bridal room” where brides can dress and prepare for weddings.
Also to accommodate wedding photography, the new center will be near the gazebo that was formerly in Naftzger Park.
Construction of the new event center is underway. The city extended water and sewer lines to accommodate the facility in July.
But the plans changed after the soil at the original site proved to be too unstable for the building, according to a report to the City Council by the Parks Department.
“The architect/engineer team redesigned the building to be sited further north in an area with better soils, reducing proposed foundation costs,” the report said. “The overall footprint of the building was reduced, while keeping the grand hall/meeting areas the same size to maintain capacity.”
But despite those efforts to cut costs, “the existing budget (just under $1.3 million) will not be sufficient to provide a sustainable and functioning event center,” the report said.
Tuesday’s request will increase the project budget to just under $1.4 million. The extra $100,000 has been included in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan and the project will be funded by general-obligation bonds, the report said.
The council will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the meeting is closed to the public. It can be viewed at the city’s Channel 7 on Cox Cable, online at www.wichita.gov or on the city’s YouTube page.
Persons wishing to address the council during the meeting can do so by remote teleconferencing from viewing rooms at the Century II Convention and Performing Arts Center.
