Wichita’s downtown redevelopment efforts, dubbed Project Downtown, are getting assistance from a new program that helps move sustainability projects from concept to reality.
Project Downtown will be aided through a new Portland State University program that helps mid-sized and smaller cities collaborate on sustainability projects in a way that helps move them through the conceptual, planning, policy and completion stages.
Wichita is one of five cities to participate in the inaugural cohort of Portland State’s Urban Sustainability Accelerator (USA) program. It will join other teams from Louisville, Kentucky; Portland, Maine; the Sacramento Council of Governments; and El Paso and Waco, Texas. Each team will receive assistance from spring 2013 through July 2014. Each team’s sustainability projects share common themes including of urban redevelopment and infill, green infrastructure investments, historic preservation and promoting transportation choices.
Mayor Carl Brewer said Wichita’s project team will benefit from experts in the other cities and draw on expertise in the Portland region where redevelopers have managed similar projects.
“This collaborative and innovative program will assist our community in the redevelopment of downtown in a manner that builds upon the principles of Project Downtown,” Brewer said.
Robert Liberty, the director of USA, said downtown Wichita is ideal for the program: “Wichita is an exciting partner for us because of the opportunity to work on major redevelopment projects with supportive developers and a city that is committed to implementing a very impressive plan for a livable and sustainable downtown.”
For more information on Project Downtown and the USA program, please contact Scott Knebel, Downtown Revitalization Manager, at (316) 268-4456 or sknebel@wichita.gov.
