Wichita Planning 15,000 Seat Downtown Arena

[tornado]

Taxpayers will be expected to pay $201 million to build it

http://www.kansas.com/business/updates/story/172963.html

http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/170671.html

http://wichitaliberty.org/node/44

[real fan]

I thought they just remodeled their place; will be surprised if the taxpayers agree to this as only the ones that actually go to the games would ok something like this.

[tornado]

I actually cannot find any reference to plans of having Wichita State play there.
The hope is that, like Jacksonville (if you read one of those links) they will be able to lure regional and other games/events to help make it marketable.

[tgcshock]

Clarifying Wichita arena status

Greetings from Wichita. Just to let you know. We are in the process of building a downtown arena that will have 15,000 seats. The first link about possibly hosting an NCAA tournament site refers to this new structure.

However, the next link about spending over 200 million in renovations to Century II refers not to the new downtown arena but to an existing structure that currently is used for opera, orchestra, conventions, etc.

WSU will continue to play in Koch Arena on campus not in the new downtown arena. There has been some speculation that if we could get games scheduled against KU or KSU we might hold them there but that is simply speculation. WSU has no commitments to hold any event at any time in the new arena.

Hope that clears things up a little.

[tornado]

tgcshock, the second link you refer to does indeed discuss mainly renovations to Century II, but if you read on down it talks about the cost of the Sedgewick arena
"The $290 million discussed for Century II is $89 million more than Sedgwick County expects to spend to build a 15,000-seat sports and entertainment arena nearby"

which is how I came up with the $201 million figure.

[tgcshock]

tgcshock, the second link you refer to does indeed discuss mainly renovations to Century II, but if you read on down it talks about the cost of the Sedgewick arena
"The $290 million discussed for Century II is $89 million more than Sedgwick County expects to spend to build a 15,000-seat sports and entertainment arena nearby"

which is how I came up with the $201 million figure.

You are absolutely correct about the fact that we are building a new $201 million dollar downtown arena and that the second link makes a reference to it. I just wasn't sure whether most BU fans were clear that all of that money for that project has already been raised by a special tax that has been in effect for some time (while the $290 million is a new proposal for a "non-sports" facility) and that neither facility is tied to WSU in anyway.

The downtown facility was controversial (and posters on Shockernet were as split about the wisdom of it as the rest of the Wichita community).

While I am replying, let me just say how informative and well-run this board is. Although I just registered to post, I have been coming to the BU board for several years as a guest and have been very impressed with both the level of BB knowledge and the overall level of civility on this board. In spite of some setbacks over the summer, I think you guys are poised to have a very good year in Valley play. If things break right maybe WSU and BU can once again represent that Valley in the NCAA tournament. (And be assured that with your win over KU you earned a special place in most Shocker fans hearts). Hope your only two losses in the Valley this year are to us.

[tornado]

tgcshock-
you are very kind with your words about BradleyFans.

And thanks for the input about the arena, interesting they wouldbuild it without the Shockers as a main tenant.
It would be like Carver Arena in Peoria without Bradley playing there.