Here’s what the city just named Wichita’s newest park

Wichita’s newest park now has an official name.

The park, across McLean from the Arkansas River in Delano, had temporarily been dubbed Poem Park.

The new name, approved by the Wichita City Council on Tuesday, is Millwood Park.

It get its name from the street — Millwood Avenue — that dead-ends in the middle of the park, a thin strip of undeveloped city-owned land along McLean from Vine to Fern.

“I’m really excited about it because Delano has been really active in the naming of this new park,” Council member Maggie Ballard said. “I asked them for feedback because I thought it was important to include the people actually living in the area.”

The city has owned the land since the mid-1990s. The council voted in September 2021 to sell it, but strong opposition from neighborhood residents and tree enthusiasts convinced developers and city officials to cancel the deal. Roughly 45 residents voiced opposition when developers asked for the property to be rezoned for multi-family residential use.

Wichita’s park board and city council voted earlier this year to designate the area — which includes roughly 50 mature shade trees — as green space and a city park.

The Delano Neighborhood Association chose the new name, which also got the stamp of approval from the Board of Park Commissioners in August.

The city has not announced any planned improvements at the park, such as playground equipment, paths or other amenities.

The city staff report says the financial impact of naming the park would be limited to the cost of new signs displaying the name of the park, which would be funded from the Wichita Park and Recreation Department’s budget.

This story was originally published September 5, 2023 at 5:55 AM.