The City of Wichita has made a change in leadership of the Park and Recreation Department.   Long-time director Troy Houtman is out and Reggie Davidson has been named as interim director.

The change happened about two weeks after the City Council raised questions and concerns over the clubhouse rental at Clapp Memorial Park at Harry and Oliver.

The Council renewed a contract with Duck’s Flying Discs, a disc golf pro shop that has been leasing the clubhouse under a pilot program since May, 2021.   Questions were raised by Mayor Lily Wu and Council Member Dalton Glasscock and they voiced concern that the city did not go out for bids on the use of the clubhouse and that the lease payments did not go up 30 percent each year under the original contract.    Wu said there may be community members who would be interested in the clubhouse considering that the city is planning a $7 million upgrade to the park, including a playground, dog park and parking.

It’s not clear if the Clapp Park issue was a factor in making the leadership change, and there has been no comment from Houtman or city officials.   Houtman had been the Park and Recreation director since 2014.