Century II Parking on Oct. 21st.
City of Wichita officials have identified parking spaces to accommodate an anticipated 3,500 visitors to Century II Convention Center on Wednesday for a national convention, trade show and the opening night of “WICKED,” the much-anticipated Broadway musical. Those plans include:
· 139 parking spaces in the main Century II parking lot, which will be set aside for “WICKED” ticketholders and closed off by barricades. This parking is on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to park in these rows, drivers must show their “WICKED” tickets to security.
· 500 parking spots in the garage east of the Broadview Hotel on Waco.
· 560 parking spots after 5 p.m. in the Garvey Center garage. To enter the garage, drivers may go down First Street and turn south on Willis Drive. Willis Drive is located a half-block east of Waco.
· 500 parking spots in the Waterwalk parking garage between Wichita Street and Water (just east of Gander Mountain).
· 350 parking spots in the parking garage to the east of the Waterwalk near the Go Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau.
· 827 parking spots in Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. The Q Line trolley will run until 11 p.m. to shuttle people to and from Lawrence-Dumont Stadium and Century II.
· Visitors may also pay to park in the Hyatt Regency Wichita parking garage (500 spaces) that is adjacent to the main Century II surface parking lot. Individuals who park in the garage will be charged $8 by the Hyatt.
“The influx of people is another sign of the vibrancy of downtown Wichita,” said John DAngelo, manager of the City’s Division of Arts and Cultural Services. “This parking plan is designed to ensure that visitors arrive in a timely manner to their destinations by having access to a variety of parking options around Century II.”
City officials estimate that 7,000 cars will be in the Century II vicinity on Wednesday, with the most traffic after 6 p.m. for “WICKED,” which is expected to attract a sold-out crowd of 2,200 people to Concert Hall, located on the southeast side of Century II, adjacent to Expo Hall.
Visitors to Century II should note that the surface parking lot located south of Waterman Street (across from the Hyatt’s parking garage) has been reserved by the Wichita Industrial Trade Show (WITS) and won’t be accessible to the general public. It’s expected that Century II’s main parking lot east of Expo Hall will be heavily used throughout the day by attendees to the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) convention.
For questions regarding parking for these events, please call DAngelo at 303-8600.
For more information about downtown parking in general, contact Mandy Pankratz in the City’s Urban Development Office at 268-4524.
