The former Boys & Girls Club building at 21st and Grove is about to become Wichita’s newest Family Dollar store, and residents of the largely African-American neighborhood aren’t happy about it.
City Council member Brandon Johnson broke the news on his Facebook page Wednesday, and constituent comments were mostly a mix of disbelief, anger and profanity that the northeast neighborhood was getting yet another discount dollar-type store, to add to the six already in the general area.
“Another dollar store is ridiculous,” one said. “A tutoring center, a grocery store, a quality gas station or something of that nature would have been better.” Other than spot usage for storage and the occasional charity drive, the building has sat vacant since the Boys & Girls Club moved to a new, more modern place on Opportunity Drive about 10 years ago.
The city owned the building in the mid-2000s and considered turning it over to the Lord’s Diner for a satellite station to feed the poor and homeless. But that plan fell through amid neighborhood opposition and City Hall sold the building off as surplus property.
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