What is the spirit of Century II?

I find myself torn between friends who want to save Century II, and friends who want to replace Century II. Like me, all driven by a deep love for our community, and the desire to see it be the best it can be.

This has prompted me to ask a bit of an odd question: What is the spirit of Century II?

This question caused me to look back at what came before Century II. In 1911, the Forum, a convention and performing arts center, was built. What an undertaking it must have been for a city of about 50,000; the vision and courage it must have taken to build that kind of a facility in a town of that size in the middle of the country.

That courage and daring, that spirit, paid off at a grand scale. From 1911 to 1965, the bold and daring prairie dreamers of Wichita grew this community into the Air Capital, and the Sedgwick County population grew from 74,000 to 345,000.

In 1965, the Forum had its last show — a sell-out crowd of about 4,000 for a performance of the Grand Ole Opry. What grand stories it could have told — of the successes and the memories made. What prompted the Forum’s fate? It was too small for growing demand, and its facilities were not adequate for the performances or shows of that time.

Then came Century II, a facility on a scale and with aspirations even greater than those of the Forum. An architectural masterpiece of Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired architecture, it opened in 1969, the year of the first moon landing, the first Boeing 747 flight, the first Woodstock and first airing of the Brady Bunch. How did it come to be? The people of Wichita, descendants of those daring prairie dreamers that built the Forum, refusing to allow their concept of what was possible to be limited by the familiarity of the Forum, saw the future.

Century II stands as a testament to the fact that there is no greater way to honor the past than to succeed in the future. In the decades that Century II has graced our skyline, Wichita has continued to succeed and grow through the ups and the downs, as the population in Sedgwick County and the adjacent counties grew from 540,000 in 1969 to 750,000 today. But now, Century II is in a similar position as the Forum; its facilities are not adequate for our present or future needs.

What is next for Century II? Maybe it’s a remodel, and maybe it’s something completely new. I don’t know what the best way forward is, but I look forward to the release of the study results on these options. A new building will be more expensive (perhaps by hundreds of millions initially) than remodeling Century II. But beyond that, there are the cultural costs of losing an iconic building of architectural significance that has given so much to the city in terms of memories and as a cultural catalyst. But those are not the only costs; any remodel will have a shorter life than a new building, and likely leave significant functional and capacity challenges. What opportunities, both economic and cultural, what new experiences will be missed without a new facility? Both options carry great costs.

The spirit of Century II began the same as the spirit of the Forum – a reflection of those who dreamed and dared; who had the courage to imagine, to believe that a small town on the banks of a prairie river in the middle of the country could be something truly special.

Like the people that built the Forum and the people that built Century II, I embrace this spirit of daring to dream that our future will not be limited by the confines of the present, that tomorrow will be greater than our wildest dreams, and that we do have the courage and creativity to make the seemingly impossible inevitable.

So, what is the spirit of Century II? Ultimately, it is a reflection of our spirit, the spirit of Wichita. What is that spirit now? Are we still daring dreamers?

This story was originally published August 4, 2017 at 4:45 AM with the headline "What is the spirit of Century II?."