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13 February 2024
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — George Washington Boulevard is one of the longer street names in Wichita. Soon, it will have an additional name — Air Capital Boulevard.
Wichita City Council members approved the honorary over-naming at their meeting Tuesday morning.
An over-naming is similar to when the city temporarily renamed a road when Paul McCartney performed at Intrust Bank Arena in July 2017. (KSN News Photo)
The new signs will go from East Lincoln to 31st Street South, the site of the Kansas Aviation Museum.
The people who live and work on George Washington Boulevard will still have the same address they had before. But their street signs will get additional signage, known as street blades, over it. The blades will have the name Air Capital Boulevard.
The Kansas Aviation Museum requested the over-naming to honor Wichita’s aviation history.
“This is not renaming George Washington Boulevard,” Ben Sauceda, museum president and CEO, said. “That road stays the same, no address changes, nothing along that line. But it is an overnaming and a chance for the city, our community, to capitalize on the pride that is our aviation heritage.”
The Kansas Aviation Museum is where Wichita’s original airport was from 1935 to 1954. Sauceda says the boulevard was originally built as the direct route from downtown Wichita to the original airport. He said that is why it cuts diagonally across Wichita’s usual street grid pattern.
He said George Washington Boulevard has historical significance for aviation and Wichita.
“The Wichita airport was the fourth busiest airport in the nation in the late 30s and early 40s, operating flights every 90 seconds in or out of our facility,” Sauceda said.
He said the Kansas Aviation Museum continues building on that heritage.
“To this day, we still play a rich aviation role in what we do here thanks to the work of our City, our Greater Wichita Partnership, as well as our senator and house members there as we work to solidify the fact and continue the branding that Wichita is still the air capital of the world,” Sauceda said.
The City of Wichita says the Kansas Aviation Museum will pay for the signs. It is unclear how quickly the over-naming signs will appear.
“We will be working with city staff to identify vendors to use on this,” Sauceda said. “As we coordinate that, we will work on exact placement. This will be the beginning of a series of events over several years to highlight our aviation heritage.”
Visit KansasAviationMuseum.org to learn more about how the museum honors Wichita’s aviation past while preparing youth for the future of aerospace.