Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer on Tuesday announced the formation of a Downtown Revitalization Steering Council and three supporting Advisory Teams. The Steering Council and Advisory Teams will hold upcoming public meetings to help engage area residents and collect feedback about improvements for downtown. The Mayor’s announcement follows months of public presentations and meetings the Mayor has conducted related to the next phase of downtown redevelopment.
“Today we are launching a new and exciting engagement process, asking the people of Wichita to learn about the benefits of downtown revitalization, giving us input and ideas on how we make our downtown the envy of other great American cities,” said Brewer who read from a prepared statement. The full statement is attached or can be viewed at www.wichita.gov. The related news conference will soon be available at the Web site as well as on cable channel 7, or City7.
Those joining Mayor Brewer as co-chairs of the Steering Council are Sedgwick County Chairman Kelly Parks and Larry Weber, Chairman of the Wichita Downtown Development Corp. Other members include co-chairs of the three Advisory Teams:
- Jody Horner, President of Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.;
- Harvey Sorensen, attorney with Foulston Siefkin;
- John Rolfe, President and CEO of Go Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau ;
- Jon Rolph, Executive Vice President of SASNAK;
- Sharon Mallory, Chairwoman of the Board of the Arts Council;
- And Charlie Claycomb, President of Old Town Association.
Other Steering Council members will be appointed by Wichita City Council members and announced soon.
The Advisory Teams will focus on engaging three groups; one will engage businesses; another will engage groups and associations; and another will engage “Friends of Downtown,” which is comprised of people representing neighborhoods, the faith community, the arts and other groups.
Following is information regarding upcoming meetings:
- Steering Council - 7:30 a.m. on March 31 in the first floor Board Room at City Hall, 455 N. Main;
- Business Advisory – 11 a.m. on April 6 in the boardroom at Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, 350 W. Douglas;
- Association Advisory – 3:30 p.m. on April 13 in the boardroom at Go Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau; 515 S. Main, Suite 115;
- Friends of Downtown - 5:30 p.m. on April 14 at CityArts, 334 N. Mead.
Future public meetings will be announced later.
“We want residents to participate in this engagement process and help shape the next phase of downtown revitalization,” Brewer said. ”More details and decisions will come after we hear more from the people.”
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