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27 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Wichita City Council is holding public hearings for people to share their thoughts on the proposed 2024-2025 city budget. During the Tuesday evening meeting, the Council mainly heard from worried supporters of Old Cowtown Museum.
They say the Cowtown budgeting is not keeping up with the maintenance and employee needs of a historic living museum.
The City of Wichita website shows fluctuating budget numbers for Cowtown over recent years. The list below shows what was spent in previous years, what is expected to be spent this year, and what is proposed for the next couple of years, courtesy of the City of Wichita.
2019 Actual – $934,650
2020 Actual – $799,045
2021 Actual – $886,858
2022 Actual – $1,000,970
2023 Revise – $965,087
2024 Proposed – $982,879
2025 Proposed – $991,115
Jim Long, president of the Historic Wichita Cowtown Board of Directors, told the City Council that some crucial maintenance issues have been deferred.
“It’s falling into disrepair, and I don’t want to see it go away,” Long said. “Please, consider an adjustment to Cowtown’s budget.”
He also said the museum needs to hire more staff, particularly interpreters.
“We have lost the ability to support what’s called interpreters,” Long said. “These interpreters, what they’ll do is they’ll educate the public as far what this means in Wichita’s history, what this means in United States history. This is a significant driver for Wichita’s economy.”
Nichole Conard, the Cowtown Board vice-president, said Old Cowtown Museum is the only 1870s living history museum in America. But she said that’s not the case anymore.
“You know why? We don’t have any interpreters,” she said. “We have a blacksmith, but we don’t have anyone to teach those USD children who come in. We don’t have anyone to talk to those senior citizens who come over from Germany, Japan, Bolivia, and explain what is so amazing about the West, about Kansas.”
Conard said staffing levels are so low that Cowtown’s historical items are being stolen, broken and damaged.
“We have the lowest amount of staff Cowtown has ever seen in the past 30 years,” she said. “We are one of the 3% of accredited museums in America. We’re not just the gem of Wichita. We are the gem of Kansas. We are the gem of the United States, and we need help.”
Conard asked for 25-30% more in the budget. Long suggested $60,000 but said he would need to do more research before deciding on a more precise amount.
“What we’re asking for at Cowtown … wouldn’t really even budge the lines on your pie chart,” Long said. “But it’s a monumental ask. It’s a monumental difference to Cowtown and for the people that we help educate. It’s a significant thing.”
Cowtown Volunteer Joe Raney said the City has been reducing the museum’s budget and employees for several years.
“By keep reducing the budgets and not providing a good operating budget, you took away from staff, staff who are there to help the education process, to help in the security of the facility,” he said. “Just even a few additional staff members can go a long way in helping bring back some weekend performances that are done by the volunteers.”
Volunteer Holly Bascombe said that Cowtown looks like a ghost town without enough paid employees during the week.
“Our volunteers can only come out there while they’re not working their own jobs, so during the week, the museum is not staffed,” she said. “It’s becoming more like Old Ghost Town Museum than Old Cowtown Museum.”
One frequent Cowtown visitor told the City Council that duct tape is holding one of the historic museum doors together. She said the buildings are originals and are breaking down.
Another volunteer complained that raccoons are living in and chewing on the buildings. She said the raccoons are destroying everything, including the image that visitors have of the museum.
The Council said some raccoons have been captured, and traps are being set to catch more.
The mayor and council members had questions for some of the speakers. However, they did not promise any additional funding.
“There’s a number of issues that we are working through, and I think we’re going to keep working through them,” Council Member Mike Hoheisel said.
There are two more public hearings on the 2024-2025 proposed budget. The first one is Aug. 15 at the 9 a.m. City Council meeting. The last one is at the Council meeting on Aug. 22. That is also the day the Council is expected to vote on adopting the budget.