L’Ouverture Magnet School will close at the end of the 2026–27 school year. Tonight, northeast Wichita residents can tell the Wichita City Council what they’d like to see happen to the historic school building and grounds after students leave.
The council meets Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 455 N. Main St. Residents can speak during public comment on a proposed agreement between the city and Wichita Public Schools involving the district’s proposed use of Claude Lambe Park near 13th and Woodlawn for a rebuild of Adams Elementary School. District 1 Council Member Joseph Shepard wants the city to explore whether L’Ouverture could be part of a potential land exchange tied to that agreement.
The Wichita school board approved L’Ouverture’s closure timeline in March amid declining enrollment and aging facilities. The school will close regardless of whether the land exchange moves forward. Tonight’s discussion gives neighbors a chance to say what uses they’d like city leaders to consider for the site.
A School With More Than a Century of History
L’Ouverture opened in 1912 as a segregated school for Black students and was named for Toussaint Louverture, a leader of the Haitian Revolution. It moved in 1951 to its current site at 1539 N. Ohio, near McAdams Park and the Carl G. Brewer Community Center, and continued serving students as Wichita grappled with school desegregation.
Other school closures have left different marks on the community. The former Chester I. Lewis Academic Learning Center was demolished this year after officials identified structural problems. As part of a previous bond issue, the old Mueller school on 24th street closed. The community was pleased when it found a new use as Urban Prep Academy, a private school, instead of remaining abandoned.
Shepard said he has met with Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld and other district leaders about finding a new use for L’Ouverture. Before the city can determine whether it could take on the property, he said, it needs to know what the building is worth, how much deferred maintenance would cost and whether potential occupants could generate enough revenue to cover operating and maintenance expenses.
“My goal is to make sure we get the data,” Shepard said.
How the School Bond Enters the Discussion
Wichita voters approved a $615 million school bond on Nov. 3. Under the district’s construction plans, a new Adams Elementary would be built and the district initially proposed building the school on City owned Claude Lambe Park land. The district proposed a property exchange of the park land for Adams Elementary building and land.
Shepard wants the city to explore receiving L’Ouverture instead.
The park is also at stake. At the Oct. 13 council meeting, former Council Member Bryan Frye opposed the exchange, saying families rely on Lambe Park for recreation and questioning whether acquiring a vacant school building would justify giving up established green space. Shepard said the prospect of another building sitting empty in northeast Wichita also deserves consideration.
At Shepard’s request, the council voted unanimously in October to postpone consideration of the proposed trade and to take public comment when the item returned. The memorandum of understanding before the council tonight would allow the city and district to study the potential exchange further. A property transfer would require a separate decision.
Shepard is encouraging northeast Wichita residents to attend and weigh in on what the site could offer the neighborhood after the school closes.
“Our commitment as a city should be that we use everything that we can within our toolbox to be a catalyst for economic opportunity and investment,” Shepard said.
