Remodel Century II or build new? City Council to hear plan on home for theater, arts
A group tasked with recommending whether the future of Wichita’s performing arts is best served by remodeling space within Century II or building a whole new performing arts center will deliver its findings to the Wichita City Council Tuesday morning.
Based on information shared by committee chairwoman Mary Beth Jarvis on Monday, the committee may be leaning toward the latter.
Jarvis said she wanted to “respect the process” and not share the committee’s recommendations before she presents its findings at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. But she did say that if the committee promotes building a new performing arts center, it would be in what she calls the city’s “front yard” — the space between Kellogg to the south, Douglas to the north, the Arkansas River to the west and Main Street to the East.
She also stressed, though, that her committee of 12 people, which has been studying the issue for nearly a year, was not asked to referee the hot debate about whether to tear down or preserve the 50-year-old Century II.
Their only job, she said, was to analyze the right moves for performing arts in Wichita.
“We will recommend one or the other action, to either renovate Century II for performing arts or build a new performing arts facility,” she said. “But, for example, B does not necessarily mean the end of A. I want to make sure the community isn’t fixated on a false or at least a premature choice.”
Jarvis said her committee spent hours talking to the performing arts groups who use Century II — groups like Music Theatre Wichita, American Theatre Guild and the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. The group also put in hours and hours studying the building, talking to thousands of residents and sorting through thousands of e-mail responses to a seven-question survey it put out earlier this year.
“We know some things for sure,” she said. “The community is very clear that they want to move now. We have studied long enough. We have debated long enough. We are hampering, some might say strangling, our performing art organizations, and we have done that long enough, so act now.”
The people the committee talked to, she said, also said that Wichita is out of “small fixes.” The city has patched and compromised long enough, so whatever is done will have to be on a big scale.
But the committee has also heard that, no matter what, the city’s performing arts organizations cannot afford to “go dark” for any amount of time, so whatever is done must allow them to continue operating until what comes next is ready to go.
“There is zero appetite for ‘Meh,’” she said. “Do this with excellence. Whatever you choose, do it in a way that serves my kids and my kids’ kids and the future of our community.”
This morning’s presentation will include specific recommendations for the square footage that would be needed and the features the space would require to keep Wichita a relevant regional attraction.
Century II’s current setup limits that ability, Jarvis said. It doesn’t have a loading dock that can accommodate trucks build past 1969, which is why people saw “Jersey Boys” trucks parked on Kennedy Plaza last weekend.
Century II, in its current state, also would never be considered for major shows like “Hamilton,” and it’s never been able to accommodate “The Phantom of the Opera” because the ceiling isn’t tall enough or strong enough to support the show’s signature chandelier, Jarvis said. Even “The Lion King,” which came to Wichita in 2012 for a 32-show run, had to bring a scaled-down version of its show because of Century II’s limitations.
What Wichita does need, the committee determined, would fill only about 40 percent of the space that Century II provides.
“The literal footprint of the Century II round building is two and a half times bigger than the space actually needed for a modern performing arts capability,” she said.
A separate group is charged with examining the city’s needs for convention and trade show space.
Jarvis said she wouldn’t know what the next step in the process would be — or the time frame for completion — until after she shares the committee’s recommendations with the council. Whatever is recommended, she said, as the price tag will surpass $100 million.
“We will have some recommended time frames for the city and the private sector to move forward on the steps needed to make this happen,” she said “...There’s more homework that needs to be done, and frankly, we’ve got to get to the point where there are renderings and a real vision for this that the community can weigh in on.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2019 at 5:01 AM.
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