The City of Wichita and Sedgwick County will purchase a former elementary school and develop it into a Multi-Agency Center (MAC) to provide shelter and other services for the homeless.

The project was announced Thursday at Wichita Mayor Lily Wu’s weekly news conference at City Hall.   Vice Mayor Maggie Ballard said the city and county will be buying the Park Elementary School building, and it will be ready for use as a homeless shelter for the winter of 2024-25, and it will be ready for full services in 2026.   Ballard said the building will have a no-barrier, short-term shelter that will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with resources to transition homeless people into affordable housing.

Park Elementary will be closing after this school year, along with five other schools, in a decision that was made in March by the Wichita school board in a move to deal with a budget shortfall in the district.

An open house will be held Saturday, June 8th from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Advanced Learning Library to provide more information on the plans for the former school building.  Ballard said more open houses are planned and city officials want to address neighborhood concerns and challenges.   The city also has a web site that has more information on the web site www.wichita.gov/mac

Sedgwick County Commission chairman Ryan Baty said a number of local agencies and organizations have been involved in the discussions on solutions to homelessness, and this is one of the outcomes.   He said it will take a collaborative approach from the entire community to address the issue, and the MAC is desperately needed.

Wichita school board president Stan Reeser said the board will consider at its meeting Monday evening an action to declare the Park Elementary building as surplus, and another action to authorize the sale of the building to the City of Wichita.    The City Council and the Sedgwick County Commission are expected to consider actions soon to begin the process of purchasing the building.

Assistant city manager Troy Anderson said there is still some due diligence to conduct on the site before the purchase is finalized.  He said there is an environmental review and the State of Kansas will have to be involved.   He said the facility could support 150 to 200 beds in a shelter setting with some flexible space for times when there is a greater need.