Chester I. Lewis Reflection Square Park is an urban park located on Douglas Avenue within the downtown area of Wichita, Kansas. The Chester I. Lewis Park is a site the city is interested in improving, but no current plans or budget are available. The park has faced issues including a stigma regarding use by the homeless population, vandalism, lack of use by the broader public, and deterioration.
Chester I. Lewis was a civil rights lawyer in Wichita, Kansas. One of his cases dealt with the Dockum Drugstore Sit-in, the first successful sit-in of the civil rights movement, which will soon have a new sculpture memorial dedicated a block away from the park. The overall project goal for the downtown park commemorating Lewis’s legacy is to develop a site that will address the current issues with the park and create a connection with the newly developed memorial, all while strengthening the expression of Lewis’s significance as a civil rights leader who championed social integration. The project should develop a sense of place within the community and connect visitors to Wichita’s legacy in the civil rights movement.
Methods used by the researcher to build a framework for design consist of archival research into the history of civil rights in Wichita, precedent studies focused on memorials and designing for the homeless, participant observation, a public exhibit with community feedback, and lastly interviews with advocates for the homeless, and living members of the Sit-In. The proposed design for Chester I. Lewis Park demonstrates that it is possible to provide a variety of uses within the park that benefit everyone, including unhoused people who use the park. This site can provide a new outlook for designing inclusively and seeking to remove the stigma that faces the homeless population in Wichita and provide a replicable example of how cities should plan for the homeless in park design.
