The City of Manhattan has announced that Wyatt Thompson will join the City Manager’s Office as an assistant city manager.

Thompson joins fellow Assistant City Manager Jared Wasinger, who was named to the office in March 2022.

Thompson has served as the interim Parks and Recreation Director for the past year, bridging the gap between retired former director Eddie Eastes and new director Aaron Stewart, who started on the job Monday. Thompson will be charged with project management and supervision of division leaders in building services and at the animal shelter. 

Thompson is a licensed landscape architect and Certified Park and Recreation Professional, with a degree in landscape architecture and environmental science from Kansas State University.

He began with the City of Manhattan in 2012, holding several roles within the Parks and Recreation Department and serving as lead project manager for the new rec centers, overseeing all phases of the process from feasibility studies through construction and opening in 2021. 

He’ll continue to help lead the last remaining project of the 2017 Quality of Life Sales Tax effort, the renovation of the CiCo Park ballfields complex and tennis courts.