What was supposed to be a two-week shutdown turned into a year many people will want to forget. The COVID-19 pandemic quickly shut down nearly every facet of everyday life. For many public officials, it was a wake-up call about the resources they had at their disposal. The Sedgwick County Board of County Commissioners is working to target weaknesses the pandemic exposed with the purchase of land for an Emergency Preparedness Center.
At the pandemic’s peak, officials discovered inconsistencies in the public access to its offerings. In Sedgwick County, the issues were primarily in the capacity of the Emergency Management services. The entity was paired with other medical services in the Sedgwick County Emergency Communications Center in downtown Wichita. Officials quickly learned that the location was landlocked and could not fully provide its resources to the masses.
Sedgwick Country was one of the many entities that had to strategize on the fly in 2020. Spacing was the key issue throughout the pandemic, from testing to vaccinations. Resources were moved several times in order to supply the public with proper care.
“What has happened through the pandemic is emergency management discovered it didn’t have the right configuration for different types of needs for a pandemic,” District 5 Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell said. “ We saw weaknesses in areas like spacing for mass testing and vaccination. We had to move the services about six or seven times to get the space we needed to provide services to the public.”
On June 16, Sedgwick County commissioners approved the purchase of land to construct a new building. This expanded space combines the Emergency Management Warehouse and emergency operations center under one roof for the creation of the Emergency Preparedness Center. The purchase of the land (located at the corner of S. Meridian Ave. and W. MacArthur Rd.) totaled $613,934.64 plus half of the closing cost for the near five-acre plot.
The facility would include vehicle storage and access for five drive-thru bays for testing or vaccinations, warehouse storage for medical equipment, and administrative space with a classroom with a training function. The space will allow more expansion if needed in the future.
The county acted fast to purchase the land and proposed the application for the Defensive Community Infrastructure Pilot Program Grant from the Department of Defense at the June 21 board meeting. It is a $9,774,675 grant for the development of the center. With the grant, a cash match and Capital Improvement Plan funding, the resources available would total $14,747,621 for the Emergency Preparedness Center.
In 2022, the county applied for the same grant but did not receive it because the plans were not considered to be construction ready. The ability to be construction ready was a big key to receiving the grant.
“By buying land, we put ourselves in a better position to get the grant,” Howell said. “Not having construction-ready land was the biggest reason we did not get the grant last year. We have an opportunity to go for that grant.”
The county commissioners are working to bolster the accessibility of resources to the public, and the projected center will provide an easier way to help the community in a variety of ways. With the location of the land, there is also room to expand if necessary.
“The pandemic showed us we don’t have a resource that is built for a response for something that requires that type of distribution of resources for the mass public,” Howell said. “If it should happen again, the public will have better access to testing, vaccinations or other resources to keep the community safe.”
