After neighborhood outcry, Wichita rethinking site for new police station
Facing opposition from neighbors near Cypress Park, Wichita City Hall is looking to find a different location for a new east-side police station, city officials said.
The city had planned last year to build the new station on about 4 acres of parkland next to the site of the undersized and outdated Patrol East station at the corner of Edgemoor and Lexington, just north of Kellogg.
But the $7 million plan stalled out at the Planning Commission amid opposition from surrounding residents who complained that it would take up too much parkland and devalue their homes.
City Parks Director Troy Houtman told the Board of Park Commissioners, which had approved transferring land for the police station, they’ll probably be getting it back.
“As of right now, I think the (police station) project is on hold and more than likely is not going to be at that park,” Houtman said in a meeting last week. “If that’s the case, you would get the land back (for park use).”
On Tuesday, City Manager Robert Layton confirmed City Hall staff is evaluating several potential sites and soon will “bring back a report recommending what the most appropriate site would be.”
That’s welcome news for the neighbors, said Steve Howard, who works for Google out of his home near the park and has been a vocal opponent of the plan.
“I’m shocked, frankly, that this got as far in the process as it did,” Howard said. “What I don’t understand is why projects like this, without any transparency, are still going on in Wichita, Kansas . . . You can’t operate a city like this anymore.”
He said it’s similar to other projects that have been sprung on the community seemingly from out of nowhere in recent years, like the proposal to auction off MacDonald Golf course to a private operator.
“Developers, they get an idea that something looks good, or an engineering firm or construction firm, whatever it is, it’s going to benefit somebody, “ he said. “It starts winding its way through City Hall . . . and when sunlight gets put on it, everybody says ‘oh well,’ and then they retreat. That’s what happened here.”
He said the police station plan already has hurt some neighbors who have had to put their homes on the market and were required to disclose to potential buyers that a huge police station could be built across the street.
Layton acknowledged that the size of the proposed building, about 23,000-25,000 square feet, was a big concern. It’s roughly five times the size of the existing police station, which shares a building with a fire station.
While the city could build smaller, it doesn’t make sense because it would eventually need to be expanded, which would be unfair to the neighbors, Layton said.
“I don’t know that you can build the substation of the future with a smaller footprint,” he said.
A strong consensus remains among Police Department management and rank-and-file that the old Patrol East station has outlived its usefulness.
It was built in 1989, the first of four substations to serve the rapidly expanding population in the city suburbs.
Originally designed for 30-40 officers, it now houses 100-130.
The station has only one holding cell and there are no spare rooms to interview suspects, witnesses or victims.
Locker, shower and rest room facilities are inadequate in number and dilapidated in condition, so an officer whose uniform gets soiled with blood, vomit or gasoline at an accident scene has to go home to shower and change.
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 4:44 PM.
