Wichita city council members, Sedgwick County commissioners, and business and community leaders gathered Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony for a new baseball stadium.
The event also featured owners of the professional baseball team that will be relocating to Wichita to begin play in 2020. Principal owner Lou Schwechheimer said the team is thrilled to be in Wichita, and they will be in the community every day. He said “every single day of our lives you will get our best effort. We made a commitment to come here and we are all in.” Schwechheimer said there will not only be 70 baseball games a year, but the stadium will also host concerts and festivals and the team will give back to the community.
Lieutenant governor Lynn Rogers also spoke at the ceremony and said he’s looking forward to “many great memories that will be made here, just like the memories that this site has represented for the last 90 years.” Acting Kansas commerce secretary David Toland said the stadium will be a catalyst for Wichita in the ongoing development of the riverfront.
Scott Sherry, with the design and construction team, said a new sanitary line will be installed at the site. As early as March, people will begin to see the seating bowl and the field wall start to take place, and steel will start to appear in June. The grass field should be installed in September or October. The stadium will be completed in March of 2020 in time for the team to begin play in April.
[ photograph shows, left to right, Lieutenant Governor Lynn Rogers, Mayor Jeff Longwell, principal team owner Lou Schwechheimer, acting Kansas Commerce Secretary David Toland. ]
