Bistro, farmers market, pickleball and stage highlight new Clapp park plan in Wichita
A two-story “bistro,” an indoor-outdoor farmer’s market, a bandshell, a hill to watch planes from and a $28 million price tag highlight a consultant’s plan for the park design to replace the abandoned Clapp Golf Course in south Wichita.
The Wichita City Council got its first official look at the plan Tuesday, almost exactly two years after the city shut down the 50-year-old golf course at the southwest corner of Harry and Oliver.
The newly completed plan, which will have to come back to the council for an official vote in the coming weeks, is designed to create an all-day, or even multi-day attraction, said P.J. Novick, a principal in Confluence, the Kansas City consulting firm that the city contracted with for design services.
“Let’s start with Friday night, maybe there’s a small concert and you grab a drink or something to eat at the bistro,” Novick said. “And then Saturday morning you come to the farmer’s market, and your kids can play in the water feature while you’re doing that, and then coming back that night for a large community event. So the [park includes the] opportunity to do many things in many weekends to appeal to as much of the population as we can.”
The major features of the park are divided into three areas.
The center of the park is called the Promenade and contains most of the built features. Just south of that is an area designed for active recreation for children.
The southeast part of the park is planned for an athletics area and the southwest is a “neighborhood park” with spaces for dog walking and relaxation.
There will be no golf presence, other than disc golf.
The main park features include:
The Promenade
▪ A “bistro” concept restaurant/bar to be run by a private operator. It’s envisioned being two stories tall with patio and open-air rooftop seating.
▪ A farmer’s market, also to be privately run, which will have roll-up garage doors for inclement weather. During periods it’s not being used as a market, it could be rented out for weddings and corporate events.
▪ A two-sided bandshell with seating on both sides. Small shows, such as outdoor movie nights, could play to a small seating area to the south. Larger concerts and entertainment could play to a bigger seating area on the north side of the bandshell.
▪ “Aviation Hill,” a sloped hillside where park patrons could lie down to watch planes pass over in the flight path for McConnell Air Force Base. The hill would double as a stargazing space.
▪ A “prairie overlook,” essentially a man-made hill that users could climb to view the park, the surrounding neighborhood and in the distance, downtown Wichita.
▪ A pollutant removal plant to sift trash from surrounding neighborhoods and commercial areas out of the water as it flows though the park’s creek.
The active use area
▪ A water-play area, designed to use natural features such as the creek that runs through the park. Its purpose is two-fold, serving as a splashpad that also has a nature-education component.
▪ A “signature” playground that would be larger and serve a wider age range than the usual tot lots that pepper city parks.
▪ An indoor pavilion that could be rented for events and/or used for activities such as tournaments for the beanbag-throwing game called “cornhole.”
▪ An open-air picnic shelter for events up to 65 people.
The athletic area
▪ Six outdoor courts for the increasingly in-demand sport of pickleball, a tennis-like game played with plastic balls and solid paddles.
▪ Four outdoor half-court basketball courts.
▪ A “pump track” for mountain and BMX bikes. Such tracks are designed with swooping inclines and banked turns to allow riders to get around it by moving their body in a “pumping” motion with minimal peddling.
▪ A pavilion with a capacity of 24 and space for storage and equipment rental.
The neighborhood park
▪ A disc golf course, continuing the park’s primary current use.
▪ A smaller playground for children who live in the adjacent neighborhood.
▪ A “hammock grove” for people to string hammocks between the trees and relax in the park.
▪ A neighborhood dog park.
▪ Two pavilions, each with a capacity of about 24, for small events.
This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 3:31 PM with the headline "Bistro, farmers market, pickleball and stage highlight new Clapp park plan in Wichita."
