Readers of The Community Voice have followed updates on the planned recreation center at McAdams Park since the project was first approved in 2022. But even if you haven’t tracked every step, there’s plenty to be excited about on the north end of the park.
Originally opened in 1958, the McAdams Recreation Center has undergone a major renovation and expansion — along with a name change to the Carl Brewer Community Center. The new facility opens Dec. 6 as a shining addition to McAdams Park.
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Nearly triple the size of the original building, the expanded center strengthens the momentum of a park once considered an afterthought and now recognized for its vibrant mix of activities: League 42 baseball, youth football, basketball, softball, tennis, a large playground, and a state-of-the-art swimming pool.
The new facility finally gives the park an indoor hub that matches the scale and energy of everything happening outdoors.
The center’s grand opening is Sat., Dec. 6 at 8:30 a.m. The public is welcome.
A Long Road to Opening: Funding Challenges & Construction Delays
The journey from concept to completion has not been simple. The project began with a $10 million approval in 2022, but as planning progressed, construction costs climbed to $13.7 million, creating the first major obstacle.
Even once the funding puzzle began to take shape, construction stalled for reasons no one expected. Engineering reviews determined that part of the park sat within a FEMA-designated floodplain, forcing the city to halt progress until new flood maps could be reviewed and approved. That process brought months of delay, pushing what some hoped would be a 2024 ribbon-cutting into late 2025.
What could have become a stalled project instead gained momentum thanks to determined leadership and community support, allowing construction to begin in June 2024.
Leadership That Made It Happen
District 1 City Councilmember Brandon Johnson was one of the project’s most persistent advocates. For years, he pushed for investment in McAdams Park — historically known as Wichita’s Black park and too often overlooked despite its central location and heavy use. Johnson called the center’s upgrade long overdue and a symbolic moment of reinvestment in a neighborhood that deserved better.
“This wasn’t just a project; it was a promise,” Johnson has said repeatedly during public updates. “The community deserved a facility worthy of McAdams Park.”
This project would not have been possible without Fidelity Bank who loaned the City of Wichita $10,000,000 for this project.
“Without their generous offer to support this project, we simply would have done minimal maintenance work on the facility,” said Johnson “Their support is building a flagship community center in the heart of our community.”
Honoring a Legacy: Why It’s Now the Carl Brewer Community Center
Renaming the center honors former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, the city’s first popularly elected African-American mayor, who served from 2007 to 2015. Brewer was known for his relentless focus on neighborhoods, public service, and lifting up young people through mentorship and opportunity. He died in 2020.
For many residents — including the Brewer family — having his name on the community center in McAdams Park feels like a fitting tribute to his leadership style: hands-on, community-centered, and grounded in the belief that neighborhoods flourish when they have resources close to home.
What’s Inside the New Center
The Carl Brewer Community Center is a fully unified facility that brings together the renovated 1958 recreation center with the new addition, creating a single, seamless complex that blends the center’s long history with a modern layout designed for today’s community needs.
The large main entry area is centrally located where the two buildings connect, making it easy to head left into the original facility or right into the expansive new area.
At the heart of the addition is a spacious new gymnasium featuring two full-sized basketball courts with a walking track circling the floor. Combined with the gym in the original section, the Brewer Center now offers three full-sized courts, greatly increasing capacity for leagues, practices, recreational play, and tournaments. The expansion also includes new locker rooms and showers, giving athletes and visitors an upgraded experience.
A fully equipped commercial teaching kitchen broadens the center’s purpose even more. It will host culinary classes for youth and adults, and it’s designed to be rented by licensed caterers — offering small businesses a professional kitchen within the neighborhood.
For those who want to watch the action or simply gather, a comfortable lounge area overlooks the gym and provides a natural spot for parents, spectators, and community members to connect. Nearby, a couple of flexible multipurpose rooms offer space for recreational classes, meetings, workshops, and other programming the center plans to grow over time.
Leadership and Programming Will Define the Brewer Center
When the Carl Brewer Community Center opens its doors, two women will be at the heart of shaping what the new facility becomes: Angela Buckner, Wichita’s newly promoted Recreation Superintendent, and Elisa Accardi-Harrison, the center’s new director. Together, they bring decades of experience and a shared vision for how the Brewer Center can serve the community in ways the old McAdams Recreation Center simply couldn’t.
Buckner has spent more than 20 years working in the City of Wichita’s Park and Recreation Department, rising through the ranks with a reputation for building strong programs and connecting with families. Her promotion comes at a pivotal moment, as the city reinvests in McAdams Park and looks to rebuild community trust in recreation services.
“This center has to be more than a place to play basketball,” said. Buckner who was a Wichita high school and WSU basketball standout. “It needs to be a space where people of all ages feel welcome, supported, and excited to take part.”
Accardi-Harrison echoes that vision. Stepping into a role once held by respected leaders like Emerson McAdams, A.J. Jones and Larry Dennis, she is aware of the legacy she inherits — and the responsibility that comes with it. She says the new building offers opportunities the old center couldn’t: more rooms, more equipment, and the flexible spaces needed for a full range of classes, workshops, and community events.
Both leaders talk about the need to bring back safe gathering spaces for youth, including social events similar to the TARP programs that once drew teens to the center in the ’60s and ’70s. They also emphasize that programming must be shaped with the community, not simply offered to it.
“If someone has an idea for a class or activity, we want to hear it,” Accardi-Harrison said. “This center belongs to the community. The programs should come from the community too.”
Together, Buckner and Accardi-Harrison hope to usher in a new era — one where the Brewer Center becomes not just a recreation facility, but a gathering place rooted in connection, opportunity, and community pride.