Coronavirus stalls Wichita ‘Save Century II’ petition drive, impacts service workers
The reaction to coronavirus COVID-19 has stalled the petition drive to save Century II and put hospitality industry workers in a bind where they may not be able to pay their rent, the Wichita City Council was told Tuesday.
The council had two speakers on its public agenda: Celeste Racette, the leader of a petition drive to head off a public-private plan to raze and replace the city’s convention and performing arts center; and Alexander Vulgamore, a kitchen worker from The Wave venue.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of the COVID-19 threat a day after Sedgwick County’s health officer ordered a ban on public gatherings of 50 or more.
City Hall security counted the house to keep Tuesday’s audience under that number and a handful of attendees watched the early part of the meeting on video in a nearby conference room until enough people left to allow them to get inside the council chamber.
Racette told the council that because of the coronavirus threat, her group, “Save Century II,” has temporarily closed its downtown office where city residents could come sign a petition for a ballot initiative to force a public vote on tearing down Century II or the accompanying former Central Library.
She said the group has collected about 11,000 of the 12,554 signatures of registered voters needed to put the initiative to a vote.
And she said she’s confident that even with the hurdle caused by the coronavirus pandemic, they’ll be able to get the necessary signatures by the July 13 deadline.
Racette and her group are opposed to the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan, an ambitious $1.2 billion plan to replace Century II with a new performing center, a separate convention center and a spacious park over an underground parking garage.
The plan for the east bank of the Arkansas River south of Douglas also envisions substantial private commercial, office and apartment development, along with parks and gathering places over an underground parking garage.
Racette, the daughter of a former mayor who helped develop Century II, told the council that in the current medical and economic crisis, it’s not the time to even consider such a large project.
“Level-headed Wichitans realize that it is time to hit the pause button on this extravagant development,” Racette said. “We are under a state of local disaster emergency. Our new baseball stadium may not open for play and our new Advanced Learning Library is closed.”
She also had some recommendations for Visit Wichita, the quasi-public tax-funded agency that acts as Wichita’s visitor and convention bureau, which is headquartered in leased space in the WaterWalk development.
“Imagine if Visit Wichita could pitch in to help Wichita by moving their offices into the former public library and saving taxpayers $300,000 a year for rent,” she said. “We could use that money to address the medical concerns facing us now.”
Jessica Sawatski, public relations manager for Visit Wichita, said Tuesday that she didn’t have any information on whether a move to the library would be feasible.
“Right now, we’re busy trying to stay on top of the information that’s coming in and then communicating that information to keep visitors safe and keep our partners informed,” Sawatski said. “That’s our top priority right now.”
Sawatski said it’s too early to give a ballpark estimate about how hard the city’s tourism industry will get hit. Across the globe, air travel, convention business and hotel service industries have taken a huge hit as government officials ban and discourage large gatherings and travel to and from COVID-19-ridden areas.
In addition, all signs point to a rough road ahead for service workers in Wichita.
Vulgamore, who has worked for restaurants for five years and currently works at Wave, didn’t sign up a week ahead to get a place on the public agenda, but at Mayor Brandon Whipple’s request, the council agreed to let him speak because of the rapidly developing nature of the coronavirus situation.
During the COVID-19 emergency, people are being asked to remain at home to limit the spread of the disease. This, he said, has emptied the restaurants and bars, creating a serious hardship on their hourly workers, especially those who receive a part of their wages in tips. He said most of those workers live paycheck to paycheck and are in danger of not being able to pay their rent.
“Almost all my friends and associates in the industry have found themselves without jobs,” he said. “This is after business owners and managers rose to the task and worked their hardest to keep their employees informed, calm and most importantly, paid.”
Now, the situation has overwhelmed them, Vulgamore said. He asked the council to consider a freeze on evictions and whatever other relief they can provide during the emergency.
“Throughout all this the largest unknown variable has been ‘what will you do?’” he said.
Whipple said he was glad Vulgamore could come speak at the meeting.
“The council needed to hear his message,” Whipple said. “We need to be listening to the effects it’s going to have, particularly on people who work in service industries.”
He said some of the steps so far to relieve the crisis include an order by Gov. Laura Kelly prohibiting utilities from disconnecting gas or electricity service.
Whipple said the city is following suit by halting shutoffs of water and sewer service.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 4:24 PM.
