Wichita likes school site for new police station, but use of track could be a hurdle
Wichita is poised to buy part of the former Southeast High School as the site for a new Patrol East police substation, but there’s a disconnect between the city and school district over potential public use of a running track at the site.
The city is expected Tuesday to buy five acres of open property for $218,000, to replace the dilapidated Patrol East station at Cypress Park.
Mayor Brandon Whipple said Friday morning he’s not expecting much, if any, opposition when the plan comes before the council.
“We’ve had discussions and I’m pretty sure the majority consensus is that utilizing this property for increased community policing is a smart way to go, particularly for south Wichita,” he said.
But there could be a misunderstanding over the potential use of a running track at the site of which the school district will retain ownership.
Whipple said talks have been ongoing with the district to open up the track and possibly other amenities for neighbors, after the police move in and are positioned to provide close-in security.
“Having this location I think allows us access to their running track out there, in addition to just the substation,” said Whipple, who lives nearby and represented the area in the state legislature before being elected to his city job.
That, he said, was one of the bonus factors that made the school site more appealing than the other three possibilities the city considered.
“If we wanted to have recreational track as a sport, as something that people can do, we might have opportunities using the old school site versus buying land somewhere else,” he said.
Not so fast, said USD 259 school spokeswoman Susan Arensman.
“The agreement with the city is for the land (for the station) only,” she wrote in an e-mail response to Eagle questions. “An agreement to rent access to the track could be developed later. It would not be open to the public.”
Southeast High School moved to its current site, at 2641 S. 127th St. East in 2016. The decision was hotly disputed at the time because the new school is at the district’s edge and much less accessible to students.
The former school building was converted for office use as the district’s headquarters in 2017, but much of the remainder of the property remains vacant and fenced off.
Dumpiest police station
The new station would replace the existing Patrol East facility at the south edge of Cypress Park, off Edgemoor just north of the Kellogg Freeway.
The existing substation is the oldest and dumpiest of the city’s four patrol bureaus.
It was built in 1987 to house about 30 to 40 officers and now, about three times that number work out of there on any given day.
The station lacks adequate storage, so equipment and supplies are jammed in wherever they fit, giving it a kind of “Hoarders” vibe.
It’s been plagued by termites, roof leaks, mold, air conditioning issues, heating issues, plumbing issues and electrical issues. When it was built, the department was all male and no accommodations existed for female officers, so they were shoehorned in later.
The facilities are so substandard that if an officer gets blood on their uniform, a fairly common occurrence at accidents and emergencies, they have to be pulled off patrol to go home to shower and change.
One time, the center of the squad room caved in, leaving a gaping hole. Lacking anyplace else to meet, the officers clustered around the edges of the room until repairs could be made.
The original plan was to build a new station adjacent to the current one.
But that proposal was abandoned a year ago amid neighbors’ concerns that a larger police footprint would take up too much of Cypress Park.
Before recommending the former Southeast High site, city staff conducted surveys, open houses and even went door-to-door to ask if the neighbors minded having it there, according to a staff report recommending the site.
“Input was collected from more than 200 individuals in the immediate neighborhood . . . representing a wide range of demographic groups,” the report said. “Approximately 90% of the respondents indicated support for building a police station on this site.”
High marks for school site
In addition to public support, Whipple said research showed that having the police station at the former school site will reduce response times to areas that generate the most police calls.
It’s also close to the city’s east-side fueling facility, adjacent to the current police and fire stations at Cypress Park, so the underground tanks and gas pumps won’t have to be moved.
The new station is expected to cost $7 million and have a spacious 24,000 square feet of crime-fighting space.
The city considered three other properties: The current site, a site near Central and Bristol and an an abandoned armory at Central and Edgemoor.
The former Southeast High was the clear winner, the staff report said.
“City staff and the (project) architect rated each site according to 11 criteria . . . including constructability, site requirements and ability to meet operational goals,” the report said. “The study indicated that the undeveloped land at the former Southeast High School carried the lowest price while also providing the greatest benefit to WPD operations.”
The council will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 455 N. Main, Wichita.
This story was originally published August 1, 2021 at 4:09 AM.
