Leah Howell State Representative

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Specify - Riverside Pagoda Project

The Friends of the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit hopes to raise enough money to convert the pagoda found in Riverside Park into a state-of-the-art educational and community space. 🌳

“Hundreds of school children come each year to eat lunch and play on the playground. We envision introducing students there and bring Kansas wildlife alive - rain or shine."

The pagoda was built in 1911 as a concession
stand for the Riverside Park Zoo. Architect W.R. Springfield designed it to evoke a "quaint Japanese style." 🏯 The concession stand was operated directly by Coca-Cola in the summer of 1913. Later in 1913, it was converted into bathrooms with a waiting room.

The Riverside Park Zoo, with its displays of alligators, black bears, ostriches, and a lion, was a major attraction. In 1910 attendance hit 10,000 people a 𝘥𝘢𝘺! 🐊 The restrooms were shuttered in 1938 when newer ones were built, and the pagoda became a very elaborate storage shed.

In 1964, the building became the Children's Pagoda House. It was used by the Wichita Zoological Society as a means to generate interest in a new zoo. They constructed a maze of make-believe animal exhibits for children to play in and asked people to fill out a survey of what they would like to see in a future zoo.

This project was not part of the Riverside Park Zoo, but rather a push to replace it because it could not be made any larger, and was unable to accommodate the bigger animals people wanted to see in a modern zoo. The Sedgwick County Zoo opened in 1971. 🦁

Through the 1970s and '80s, exotic exhibits at the Riverside Zoo were traded for displays with a focus on native animals. In 1988 it was re-dedicated as the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit, now visited by 40,000 people a year.

If you are interested in seeing the Pagoda structure before renovations begin, and would like to help the Riverside Park Pagoda Renovation Project, there is a fundraiser to be held t̶h̶i̶s̶ Saturday from 3:00 - 5:00pm with ice cream.

𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 : Due to rain, the Fundraiser Kickoff has been postponed for 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧 𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗗𝗔𝗬, 𝗝𝗨𝗟𝗬 19𝗧𝗛 from 3:00 - 5:00 pm.

We’d love to see you there! ❤️

🎧 https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/the-range/2025-07-11/the-range-july-04-2025e r

An interesting idea to consider as we move forward.

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