Former Wichita downtown library to be COVID-19 vaccination center, starting next week
Sedgwick County and the city of Wichita announced Thursday that the former downtown library will be converted into the city’s main center for COVID-19 vaccinations.
The operation will move there from Intrust Bank Arena, which has served as the primary vaccination station for the past few weeks.
The converted library is expected to open for vaccinations Feb. 22.
County Commission Chairman Pete Meitzner said the library will be the county’s primary vaccination site “for the foreseeable future,” likely for months. A parking lot to the south of the building will be dedicated to vaccine parking, and no tickets will be issued.
The move will relieve pressure on the arena, which has been having to toggle operations back and forth between covering the ice floor to accommodate vaccination distribution and uncovering it to host Wichita Thunder hockey games.
“Intrust Arena has been an invaluable partner for us in helping launch the vaccine clinic, and we appreciate that partnership with Intrust, but we don’t want to overstay our welcome,” Meitzner said. “We don’t want to hinder Intrust’s ability to start having shows and bringing back the economy.”
The former library shut down in May of 2018 when the city replaced it with the Advanced Learning Library.
It has remained vacant ever since and was considered for demolition under a redevelopment plan prior to the pandemic.
Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple and Meitzner, who was on the City Council when the downtown library closed, both said they were grateful the building could be put to use so quickly.
“As we see an increase in the supply of vaccines, we have to look towards our assets as a city, as a community, to discuss what is the best way to get this service to the taxpayers — to the people,” Whipple said. “And lo and behold, we have this beautiful building, this building that has been sitting here, just waiting for an opportunity like this so that folks can come and not only see this historical architecture, but utilize this building in a way that will make sure that our seniors aren’t out in the cold, waiting in line for a shot.”
As the Board of Public Health, Sedgwick County is the lead agency in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. But the city has made its facilities available to support the effort to fight the coronavirus.
In March of last year, the city began allowing the county to use the drive-through basement of Century II as a station for disinfecting county ambulances that had been out on medical calls.
Century II has been largely idle during the pandemic due to limits on mass gatherings to prevent the spread of the virus and the cancellations of most in-person conventions and traveling shows.
As of Wednesday, approximately 33,000 residents of Sedgwick County had received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. About 10,000 have had both the initial dose and a booster shot, said county Health Director Adrienne Byrne.
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 1:19 PM.
