Wichita’s McAdams Park, named after its’ first park director Emerson McAdams, was developed in the late 1950s to provide recreational opportunities for local African Americans.
During the late 1960s, when the construction of Interstate135 ran right through McAdams Park, the park’s pool moved to a new location and was designed by the world renowned local African American architect Charles McAfee. In 2021, after a series of renovations, the pool in McAdams Park was renamed Charles McAfee Pool.
Recently, the city of Wichita received funding from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to provide additional upgrades. Fittingly, the McAfee family architectural firm, McAfee3, will coordinate this process, as well as develop a historic preservation plan.
Besides forthcoming enhancements to the Charles McAfee Pool; on June 14, 2024, ground was broken for a major expansion of the McAdams Park Community Center renamed the Carl G. Brewer Community Center in 2022 (to honor Wichita’s first elected African American mayor). When completed, this will dramatically enhance the facility’s infrastructure, as well as its programming possibilities.
McAdams Park came of age during the era of racial segregation in Wichita. Perhaps, ironically, the evolving Charles McAfee Pool and the Carl G. Brewer Community Center are shaping up to be facilities that the entire city will view with pride and admiration.
