ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Liberal has been known as the home of Dorothy Gale from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ for many years and soon, a new attraction will be coming to draw people to the community.
Last week, The City of Liberal announced it was awarded more than $32,000 from the Kansas Tourism department’s Attraction Development Grant program for the creation of a “Ruby Red Slipper Slide.”
The slide will replicate Dorothy Gale’s famous ruby red slippers and, standing nearly 10 feet tall, the slide will support child and adult users and will be located on the grounds of the Liberal Tourist Information Center at 1 Yellow Brick Road. Liberal Tourism and Convention Director Sally Fuller and Kansas Tourism Director Bridgette Jobe said there is a lot of excitement around the project.
“Joe Denoyer and I have actually been talking about doing a project like this Ruby Red Slipper Slide for about 10 or 15 years now, and it was more of just a fun concept and something we thought would just be cool to have,” Fuller said. “Then, Janeth [Vazquez], who's on the Liberal City Commission, told me about a recent trip to Las Vegas she'd taken, and there's a big red shoe attraction there, and she said something along the lines of us having something like that in Liberal, so it all kind of collided. I then contacted a couple companies that do playground equipment and had a couple designs worked up – one was more of a children's slide, but the other one is one that can be used by children and adults, and I wanted it to be something for everyone. Keeley Moree is the one who actually put the grant together, and we ended up getting approved, so we're really excited.”
“The Attraction Development Grants have been around for a long time and are in the state statute to help develop new tourism attractions or help revitalize existing attractions. The main purpose is to help bring new visitors to the state and the various communities throughout,” Jobe added. “The grant had actually not been funded for several years, so we went to the Kansas Legislature a couple years and told them we needed money to help fund this grant, and we were given $1 million per year to help fund this grant. We do two rounds of about $500,000 each round, but that also depends on the current circumstances, and we'll have around 30 to 40 applications each round to go through, so it's really competitive. We look for projects we think will have the most feasibility to be completed and have a big impact on the community it's in as well as the state overall. This grant is all about tourism, and when we read the application for this slide, it truly was a no-brainer once we looked at it because as many people know, one of the main aspects Kansas is known for is 'The Wizard of Oz' and being the home of Dorothy Gale, especially with international visitors. When we talk to international visitors, the two main aspects of Kansas they talk about are our portrayal of Old West 'Gunsmoke'-like culture and 'The Wizard of Oz,' so this is a great opportunity since Liberal is a gateway into Kansas.”
Fuller said now was simply the right time to apply for the grant.
“A big part of the decision to go for it was because I knew Bridgette had the funds to do the Tourism Grant – the program's been there the entire time I've been the Liberal CVB director, but she never had any money to give away,” Fuller said. “You also have to have the right set of circumstances in place for everything to come together – Nathan Dowell's the director of the Coronado Museum and Dorothy's House/Land of Oz, and he's been incredibly support of us doing this project. So much so, in fact, he put some of his own projects on hold to help with this, because he felt this project would be a gateway to people visiting the museum because we're planning on putting the slide close to the highway, so it should draw people to not only it, but then visitors will see the museum just a short drive away and possibly decide to pay a visit there as well. All the necessary support came together, and circumstances just fell into place in a perfect way for us to finally pursue this project. And with the recent release of the 'Wicked' film, this is such a good opportunity for us since there's that resurgence of interest in 'Wizard of Oz' lore and the stories. It's just been a perfect storm getting everything together.”
“I would absolutely agree with that because sometimes, things like this tend to be rushed, but everything just came together for this. With the World Cup coming to Kansas City in 2026 ... while it won't have much of a direct impact on the Liberal community, I think it was very smart of Sally and her staff to put this together now because especially with the international visitors, they travel differently than we do here in the U.S.,” Jobe added. “We might take a few days or a week off for a vacation, but they travel for multiple weeks sometimes, and they're going to want to experience the state as much as possible. We're going to do everything we can to market this slide to those international travelers who will be traveling to Kansas City for the World Cup, because I can't wait to let anyone and everyone know about this.”
Fuller and Jobe said it was only rather recently when the grant awardees were officially chosen and notified.
“The decisions were finalized only a couple weeks ago, and our grants manager, Kody Hardman, came in and told me 'This is my favorite part, getting to call all of these people and let them know we're giving them this money,'” Jobe said. “These are projects these people have poured so much time and effort into, and to be able to be a part of that, it's something we absolutely treasure at the Department of Commerce. Liberal is very fortunate to have representation on our Council for Tourism, and they absolutely get it. They understand the importance of projects like this, and Liberal is so fortunate to have that representation because not every community does.”
“Bridgette and I were actually even at an event in October, and I REALLY wanted to know the progress of those conversations and everything, but I managed to hold my tongue and I knew I had to be patient and wait for the official announcement,” Fuller added with a chuckle. “We found out only a couple weeks ago, and we ended up being really, really happy. I wasn't sure if the project would actually even happen, and it was only really recently when I was able to officially give the word we'd been approved. We've made it over this hurdle, but there's still more paperwork to be completed, and I have to go before the Liberal City Commission and get their approval. And something else I love about this slide is it will be available 24/7/365. People will be able to stop by it and slide down or take a selfie day or night, rain or shine. We'll probably even put lights by it so people can visit it at night.”
Fuller said she is excited the project is taking a tangible step forward.
“I think this is going to be such a great project and a great draw to Liberal. People everywhere will stop by and look at it, and it's going to be on all sorts of social media platforms,” Fuller said. “We fully expect – and encourage – people to take pictures with the slide or take videos of themselves sliding down it. The amount of organic advertising we'll get from that Ruby Red Slipper Slide is going to be a tremendous boost to Liberal and Kansas. I want to thank the Kansas Tourism Department for giving us this grant funding, and I want to thank everyone else who has been involved in this project in any capacity. We're really excited to get this project going, and it's wonderful to see it finally getting more tangible traction. I can't wait to see it come up, and I think it'll look wonderful.”
“People love visiting those quirky attractions, and Kansas does quirky really, really well,” Jobe added. “This Ruby Red Slipper Slide will just add to all of that, and it's one more wonderful stop people can make, whether you have children and want to take them to a playground attraction or a big 'Wizard of Oz' fan. People will go out of their way to come and visit Liberal and see this slide, and I feel like it'll be amazing.”
