We’re waiting on baseball’s future in Wichita. Fans deserve an update

Every one of the fans going through the gates of Lawrence-Dumont Stadium these two weeks of the National Baseball Congress World Series deserve to know the city’s long-range plan for baseball in Wichita.

Right now, they’re not getting it.

They know what they’ve been told. It’s the last year for the NBC World Series in the 84-year-old stadium — the only ballpark the tournament has called home.

It’s also the last year in the stadium for the Wichita Wingnuts, the independent team that has successfully filled a void of summer professional baseball for the city since the Double-A Wranglers left after the 2007 season.

But from there, we know little. The ballpark is presumably headed for demolition — hopefully after all artifacts and pieces of memorabilia are secured — but we don’t know when the bulldozers arrive. Maybe they’ll be waiting for the Wingnuts’ final out Sept. 3 (barring a playoff berth). Maybe later, or much later.

A city spokesman said Tuesday that there’s nothing new to report on baseball and the stadium. Another spokesperson turned down an interview request for Mayor Jeff Longwell, also saying there was nothing new to report.

But shouldn’t there be?

We’ve been running around these basepaths for almost two years. Talk of attracting an affiliated minor-league team began in September 2016, and two months later the city announced it would expand an existing STAR bonds district to include the stadium area along the west bank of the Arkansas River.

In early 2017, City Council member Pete Meitzner said Longwell was “involved in two conversations with affiliated baseball.” In August 2017, Longwell said he felt confident he could soon announce a new team’s contract and arrival. In October 2017, the City Council hired Beacon Sports as a consultant to open negotiations with clubs.

A month later, Longwell hinted “potentially some really big (baseball) news” at a December Chamber of Commerce event. On that night, Longwell said the city was close to a deal and could be finalized after Major League Baseball’s winter meetings a week later.

A week later, no news. Then in May, the Wingnuts said they were told by the city that 2018 was the team’s last season in Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

Since then, Longwell has stressed patience.

During his call-in show last week on KPTS, Channel 8, Longwell was twice asked about baseball and a stadium. He said he was under a “gag order” that prevented him from discussing details about a new team and plans for a new stadium.

A gag order? Who’s telling the mayor of Wichita to keep his mouth shut?

There are a few contenders.

Officials with Minor League Baseball may have asked the city to keep quiet about intentions, especially since this has gone on so long without a resolution. Same, possibly, for leaders of the Pacific Coast League (Triple-A) and the Texas League (Double-A), the two leagues that would make sense for Wichita geographically.

Or maybe there’s an internal city gag order until a minor-league team can be secured.

Anticipation has turned to frustration for Wichita baseball fans who can accept patience and wait to see if the Wingnuts play a 2019 season — somewhere. The Wingnuts, meanwhile, have to be frustrated for two reasons — for not having a clear future and for believing that they, and not an affiliated team, could be a successful anchor tenant for a new ballpark.

Frustration, at least for fans, can be erased with a clear plan from the city. The attempt to replace a dilapidated Lawrence-Dumont Stadium with a high-quality, all-purpose stadium should be exciting as another new piece to the river corridor.

Wichitans would like to see the progress.