The spokesperson for Penumbra International, the group proposing a redevelopment project for the Century II property, has stepped down after a public meeting on the project.
At a meeting on June 15, Penumbra leaders spoke about their vision for the Century II and the Wichita Riverwalk. Most people thought the meeting generated more questions than answers though, mainly regarding funding for the project. Penumbra says the project is privately funded, and that they don’t plan on asking for any tax dollars, but it’s not clear where the money is coming from. At the June 15 meeting, people asked about who was funding the project, but they were told that information won’t be made public until the city and county approve the project. This raised some suspicions among area leaders and residents.
Penumbra International Spokesperson, Brian McHughes, released a statement, saying he was just as confused by the meeting as everyone else, and he has since left that position. He made the following public statement:
It is with a deep sense of confusion and disappointment that I write these lines, but after the June 15th, press conference on behalf of Penumbra International, I found myself as confused as all of you. I expected our senior leadership to answer the questions everyone has been asking about our investment partners and the organization’s specific action items to come in the next weeks ahead, as I and other local members of the group had been promised. At this point, after reaching out to individuals who I was told were members of this initiative, the answers were not what I expected, and now I have to dig deeper to understand how we got to this point in the process. I want to make public my apologies as I have performed the role of Spokesperson for Penumbra International, under a great degree of ignorance until now, a role of which, I have formally resigned and stepped down as today, June 19, 2021; I also extend my apologies to those, who like myself, enthusiastically embraced the concepts presented by the group. Afterall, I believe and love Wichita! At this moment and going forward I will not be representing Penumbra International LLC. in any form. I personally hope to obtain the answers we all have been looking for in the last year.
More details on the plans being proposed for the Wichita Riverwalk can be found below.
