City invests in parks, kids

The Wichita City Council made two investments in the city’s children and well-being with its votes this week to build a third baseball field at McAdams Park and to upgrade Buffalo Park.

McAdams Park, which is in an underserved core neighborhood at 13th and I-135, has been the site of the amazing success of League 42, the youth baseball program founded and chaired by Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz and named to honor baseball legend Jackie Robinson.

The league nearly doubled in size after its first year, and can now count on a third field to ease crowding and scheduling next spring. That will further its goal – “to help kids learn baseball and to help them in their lives as well,” as Lutz told the City Council.

Good for the city for enabling this inspiring nonprofit to keep going and growing, and for earmarking a total $1.4 million for McAdams Park improvements through 2018.

The council also signed off on the west side’s first interactive water park, adding a splash pad, sports fields and other overdue upgrades totaling $1.6 million at Buffalo Park near Central and Maize. The price tag was higher than planned, but the revised project will make a well-used park more user-friendly.

In both cases, the council’s actions promise to pay off in busier kids, healthier lives and better quality of life.

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "City invests in parks, kids."