If city leaders and Wichita WaterWalk developers thought no one would notice if they bulldozed the Wichita Boathouse, they know better now. Reader comments in The Eagle and the launch of a “Save the Boathouse” petition drive indicate a strong desire among some to keep the 11-year-old riverfront building as a featured part of WaterWalk, rather than raze it to make way for an office building. It’s good to see citizens weighing in on this pending City Council decision. That said, it’s also frustrating that it’s taking a threat of a wrecking ball to get the community to show support for the place, which has never lived up to its promise as an attraction.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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6 Comments
I understand where the people are coming from. I would like to personally talk to them (the promoters of the Save the Boathouse campaign).
I’m not advocating for the demolition of the Wichita Boathouse, but I would really like to know what are the key issues in saving it. It is a great place, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think it qualifies as a landmark, the Boathouse (as it is) is barely over 10 years old. So it doesn’t have much historical value. The Visitors Information Center was not too successful, because visitors had no clue where it was. I remember reading an article that the small town of Greensburg got more visitors to their visitors center than the Boathouse.
I worked there and I absolutely loved working there. Didn’t pay all that well, but the work was joyful to me. I loved talking to visitors, telling them about Wichita and its history. I also loved creating the amostphere for couples who are generating life-long memories of love and marriage there. I met many couples and seeing their smiles and eyes on the most important day of their lives was rewarding, and to be helpful for whatever they need for their special day was a pleasure.
The Wichita Boathouse is a special place, but it does need a lot of work and special attention. It has bad sewer gas problems and had bad problems with termites eating the wood floors. Also! It was very expensive to maintain those wood floors, with termintes, scratches, and even burns.
Wood floors are beautiful to look at, but it is not the best floor for so much foot traffic and equipment moving all the time.
I could say so much about the good and the bad of the Boathouse that it would fill a book.
What I really want to know, is what is the key motivation behind keeping it? I would love to know the publics view on this, and I guess I will be doing just that as the debate moves forward.
For myself, the only point in keeping it, is that it was a great place to have a reception, party, meeting, public announcement and the like. But Historic and landmark aurgument is a little weak, in my opinion.
There is a proposal to replace the Boathouse with another facility that will provide what the Boathouse does now (well the Boathouse is actually closed), but as a banquet facility and visitor’s information center.
My motivation? Simple. The gang on the 13th Floor wouldn’t have let the idea of tearing it down be brought up if they weren’t for it, and if Gary Rebensdorf, Cathy Holderman, and the other holdovers from the Knight Dynasty are for it, then I’m against it.
Oh hell, let them tear it down; give them that money losing 99 year lease; give ole Jack’s corporation tax breaks; and throw in some low interest IRB’s to boot.
There is an eyesore on Broadway, boarded up, closed school building. If they are going to tear something down, why not tear THAT down instead of an attractive building that has some potential use?
Typical Wichita. This is why Wichita will never be anything but a second rate version of Des Moines.
It’s a boathouse in name only. There aren’t any boating programs being run out of the facility except for maybe a two-week youth program in the summers.
The WSU Crew team and the Wichita Rowing Association used to store their racing shells there but the city kicked them out so they could use the space for storage.
There’s a reason why every movie that is set in New England has a rowing or boating scene in the opening credits. Boating and rowing activities evoke a sense of culture and sophistication and sets the mood for the rest of the film.
If Wichita wants to set the mood for our culture they should tear down the boathouse and put in a tractor-pull arena.