Wichita Life
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🌾 Champtown Update

🌾 Champtown Update

If Park City can pull this off....

Landon Huslig
August 29, 2025

TOGETHER With

Good morning, Wichita!

Did you know that there has been a sharp decline in the number of Americans who read for fun? Only 16% of teens and adults say they pleasurably read on a daily basis.

Thank you to each one of you that fits in the 16% as you read today’s email!

No email on Monday, enjoy your Labor Day Weekend!

Let’s get to it!

- Landon

NEWS

Champtown

Champtown was just cleared for a STAR bond by Park City officials.

The plan for the $519 million entertainment development looks something along the lines of:

160 acre site
80,000 sq-ft aquarium with more than 1,500 animals
12,000 sq-ft butterfly conservatory
Multi-sport complex
Hote
More than 225,000 sq-ft of retail, restaurants, and entertainment space

Together with Parade of Homes

Mark your calendars!

The 2025 Fall Parade of Homes is here and you can see where dreams are built, and where inspiration comes home.

This isn’t just an event to tour homes (although they are amazing to look at), it is an opportunity to interact with the top builders in the Wichita area, ask questions, and get inspired about your possible future home.

There’s not one not two, but THREE weekends for you to stop by:

SEPTEMBER 20-21 | SEPTEMBER 27-28 | OCTOBER 4-5

(SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS 1PM TO 5PM)

LOCAL BUSINESS

Opening

Stretch Life Grand Opening - 10310 E 13th St N Suite 100 - 8/30 at 8am
Imagine That Toys - 2939 N Rock Rd #150 - Now re-opened!
The Parlor Doughnuts - 7010 W 21st St (former Hurts Donut) - On track to open in Mid-September
Vivre - 3221 N Ridge Rd - Opening this November

Closing

Paradise Glass Art - 517 W Douglas - Last day is tomorrow 8/30
Green Elephant Village - near Central and Hillside - Closing in February

Moving

The Violet Closet will move from Green Elephant Village to 117 N Chautauqua near Douglas and Hillside

New Business

Lima Nation has opened a Peruvian Sandwich “Ghost Kitchen” called The Daily Deli

Dinosaur Theft

No, this isn’t the newest Jurassic World movie.

Or the title of a Box Car Children mystery.

Field Station: Dinosaur out in Derby had multiple items (fossils, meteorite, authentic Native American doll) stolen which have been in an unlocked building since 2019, but never had any issues until recently.

STARTUP

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to our friends at Learning Lab Wichita who are celebrating 1 year!

There will be a celebration on Wednesday 9/3 form 12:30 - 1:30pm.

NON-PROFIT

Brew Ha Ha

Brew Ha Ha is a fun evening of beer tastings, food pairings and wine selections by Wichita’s finest brewers and chefs and it is back again!

Guests will visit six locations on the beautiful Flint Hills National Golf Club grounds for an unforgettable experience. The night will culminate at the clubhouse with music by Lucky People!

All proceeds support Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters serving Sedgwick County and help ignite the power and promise of local youth.

Hops for Hope

Hops for Hops is a brand new event on October 9th and will be an evening celebrating local breweries, great food, and the important work that the Child Advocacy Center of Sedgwick County does!

Together with Autumn & Art

Autumn & Art is the premier al fresco art show in Kansas. Showcasing artists from across the US, we celebrate the creative spirit of our community.

Autumn & Art 2025 is scheduled for September 12–14.

We’re so excited for you to join us! Located on the Bradley Fair Parkway.

You don’t want to miss the Patron Party on Friday, September 12th!

It comes with delicious food, drinks, music, and much more.

CIVIL

$1 Billion Budget

The Wichita City Council just approved the new 2026 budget of just over $1 billion.

The operating budget = $776 million and the remaining $269 million will go towards self-sustaining debts like the airport and golf courses.

Country Acres Dog Park

New public art has just been unveiled at the Country Acres Dog Park at 754 N Country Acres Ave. It was unveiled on none other than International Dog Day!

Call for Artists

The City of Wichita is looking for pro arts who can complete the $40k public art commission for A. Price Woodward Jr Memorial Park. Submissions due by 9/5.

LOCAL

Halloween Plans

It isn’t too early to start planning your Halloween costumes.

College Hill (the Mecca of Wichita Halloween spots?) is already announcing how they plan to keep the kiddos and families safe.

YMCA Outrage

There was some miscommunication going around about some kids getting “kicked out of the YMCA” a few weeks back.

Unfortunately when news gets out, follow-up news or corrections to the initial statement doesn’t always get the same reach.

I won’t get into the details, you can read them for yourself. My biggest take away is we need more spots for the youth of Wichita to have fun and stay out of trouble.

Kansas Humane Society

Lowe’s just gave a $130k grant to the Kansas Humane Society of Wichita to double the laundry capacity and renovate the Volunteer Center.

Boys & Girls Club

Shoutout to the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Central Kansas for 35 years of building great futures!

Sweetie Pie

Rest in peace to the 53-year-old Sedgwick County Zoo hippo, Sweetie Pie who passed away on Wednesday.

Rare Animal

The Sedgwick County Zoo did have some good news though.

They just announced the birth of a critically endangered animal called the Chacoan peccary (a distant cousin of wild boars and domesticated pigs) that was thought to be extinct until 1971.

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