The journey to derive a new Downtown Master Plan has and continues to be very exciting.  Below is an overview of benchmarks achieved and those before us:

Upcoming Events

Febuary 25, 2010 - The Wichita Downtown Development Corporation's Annual Lecture will be held at the Scottish Rite. This year's guest lecturer is Mr. Jim Cloar.  Mr. Cloar is noted for his work in the cities of Tampa, Florida - sports arena development; Dallas, Texas - Arts District Development; and St. Louis Missouri - downtown residential and retail. The lecture will focus on how to take a master plan from the vision to implementation. Opening reception will start at 5:30 p.m., lecture will follow at 6:30 p.m. At the conclusion of the lecture there will be a question and answer session with Mr. Cloar and the Goody Clancy team.

Feburary 27, 2010 - Join us on Saturday, February 27th, from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the Wichita Art Museum for the Downtown Master Plan Charrette. This is the cornerstone event that will provide key visioning for the new downtown master plan.

Fall 2008 - Mayor Brewer returns from City to City visit to Oklahoma City, Ft. Worth and Kansas City with a message it is time we develop our downtown to its fullest potential.  The Mayor travels the community discussing the opportunities before us and that now is the time to act.  He notes initiatives such as Visioneering and previous downtown plans have established a strong foundation from which we may build.

November 2008 - The Wichita Downtown Development Corporation announces it will initiate a new annual lecture series focusing on Downtown.  The goal of the series is to bring national speakers to Wichita each year to discuss pertinent issues facing our downtown's development.

March 2009 - The MOMENTUM lecture series is held.  The guest lecturer, Alexander Garvin, captivates over 500 individuals from the Wichita community for two hours.  His lecture focuses on American Cities, What Works and What Doesn't.  The lecture increases the awareness of the importance of Downtown Wichita in the overall development of our community.

April 2009 - The Wichita Downtown Development Corporation (WDDC) allocates $175,000 in seed capital for a new Downtown Master Plan.  The organization challenges the City of Wichita to match the funds.  The organization also commits to raising an additional $100,000 in private sector funding.

April 2009 - The City of Wichita matches the $175,000 in seed capital and also commits $50,000 in a FTA Transportation Grant.  The WDDC initiates the private sector fund development.

June 2009 - The City of Wichita in partnership with the WDDC and private sector release a national Request for Qualifications (RFQ).

July 2009 - The City receives 32 responses to the RFQ.  The firms represent local, regional and national interests.

July 2009 - The City issues an invitation to the following firms to provide a response to a Request for Proposals: Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, Crandall Arambula, Goody Clancy, Looney Ricks Kiss.

September 22-23, 2009 - Final four firms conduct public presentation interviews.

September 25, 2009 - Goody Clancy selected as design team for downtown Master Plan.

October 13, 2009 - Contract presented to and approved by the City Council, marking the official start of the agreement with Goody Clancy.

October 14-16, 2009 - The Goody Clancy begins their work by traveling with the delegation attending the City to City visit to Chattanooga Tennessee.  View the packet of information on Chattanooga here.

December 4-5, 2009 - The Goody Clancy team hosted two walk-shops.  A walk-shop is an opportunity to look at the surroundings in downtown Wichita with fresh and critical eyes to begin contemplating a vision for the Downtown Revitaliation Master Plan.  

January 13, 2010 - The Goody Clancy team will be in Wichita to host a public event "Downtown Market Findings" where they will present initial findings fromt he downtown master plan research on housing, retail and overall commercial market opportunities, along with input from a panel of business and community leaders. A reception will start at 5:30 pm followed by presentations, panels and a Q & A Session at 6pm. The event will be held at the Scottish Rite at 332 E. 1st St.