The Wichita Boathouse is an attractive building and a familiar sight along the riverfront. So the initial response to reports that WaterWalk developers would like to tear it down is likely to be — “Not so fast!”
True, the city of Wichita should proceed cautiously on this one, considering the late City Manager Chris Cherches’ work to protect the building in the original WaterWalk contract and the generous private donations that went into it.
That said, the Boathouse is not a historic structure, not an architectural landmark, not a successful cultural program or institution — the city has always struggled to find a use for it. And it’s long been a square peg in WaterWalk design plans.
So Wichitans should reserve judgment on its fate until they learn more about the developers’ proposal. If, as reported, the added space could help land a major corporate headquarters, or some other compelling use, then the Boathouse might have to make way for progress.
Let’s wait and see our options.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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16 Comments
This is great…
If, as reported, the added space could help land a major corporate headquarters,
Tell me, how does adding office space by the river create more things to do for Wichita?
Sell it! And while they are at it, sell the ice rink and exploration place. They are all drains on city funds, although the Boathouse is the best looking and best maintained of the three. How about the new water feature for the Indian center? Let’s get downtown fixed up and let the established businesses and neighborhoods go by the wayside.
Tear the stupid thing down.
Just for the record..Exploration Place is a County, not City, waste of taxpayer funds. Just like the new arena will be.
The Boathouse has been closed for awhile. I will say this though, I used to work at the Boathouse for several years, so I have some sentimental attachment to it.
But people inquiried about buying the Boathouse all the time. Many people wanted to turn it into a restaurant, caterer people wanted to buy it, and some wanted to turn it into offices.
Now that it is closed, I’m sure the city is thinking about selling it this time around. The Boathouse has its function, it is a great little place, but I for once wouldn’t really cry if it was torn down or used for some other purpose.
It has long been not used as an offical boathouse, as far as boating on the river and such.
Also! The reason why Chris Churches keep the Boathouse in city property, is because his wife Susan Churches was using it all the time for her CMD classes that she ran. So it was more at her request to keep it in the city than Chris himself.
Also! The Boathouse was revenue dependent. It actually made money for the city, because we ran it lean. It was a great a place. I will miss it, as I am missing it right now. Great memories for me. Met a lot of great people at the Boathouse. :)
Joe Williams, perhaps you can clarify my impression about the Wichita Boat House. I was one of the contributors back about 1996 to Koch’s fund to renovate the boathouse. As I recall, Bill Koch said the boathouse had been headquarters for the parent Koch Company, which I believe had another name, back in about 1936. It was from the boathouse building on Lewis Street that the elder Mr. Koch wrote a letter to his then very young sons admonishing them to use their future wealth for a good cause.
Joe, am I in the ballpark on this information? If so, the Wichita Boathouse would be especially important in representing Wichita’s entreprenurial heritage.
Jwinkelman. You are right. The Wichita Boathouse used to be a building that housed an oil company. I forgot its name at the moment, and it may very well had some ties with Koch Industries. Never heard it being the parent company of what is now Koch.
There was a person I met who told me all about it some years ago. It had some offices but it was mainly used as a storage building. This of course was a long time ago.
The building changed hands quite often, mostly it was used for industrial purposes, basically the whole area was industrial until Century II came in and started the ball rolling to change the scenary of that area.
The Boathouse was basically empty for a good 10 or more years before they decided to renovate it, to what we now know as the Boathouse.
There was a storage building just to the south of the Boathouse that belong to it, but it was detached from the building. That storage building had a lot of memoriablia, old photographs, and just a lot of cool things. Unfortunantly they (the city) threw it all away. :( I think there were many things left saving in there.
First we build a boathouse, and then tear it down. Then we build an arena of dubious profitability and parking. When we tear it down and sell it, maybe someone will actually follow the money, to see who’s making a bundle off the taxpayers by keeping things churning!
Joe, are you talking about the current boathouse or the original? My dad (born in 1910) used to talk about the old boathouse, where people rented paddleboats and canoes, and I always thought, “How cool!” I didn’t think it was in the same location as the current one, but I may very well be confused. He also remembered the island in the middle of the river that had a small amusement park on it.
There are some pictures of these things from that time period in a book, Peerless Princess of the Plains: Postcard View of Early Wichita. There are also quite a few pictures online at Wichita Photo Archives. http://www.wichitaphotos.org/search.asp
The current Boathouse. The old Boathouse was located by the Murdock bridge.
There were very cool photographs. There was a blown up version of this one: http://www.wichitaphotos.org/graphics/wschm_M1-2.3.4.jpg
It was rebuilt a couple of times. I believe fire was the cause of at least one I know, but it might have been all the times it was rebuilt. As the photograph discription says about it, that the orginal boathouse was torn down during urban renewal. They considered it blight as that point of time.
It was very active spot in the early part of the 1900’s, but of course this was before television where people went out to find adventure, fun, and entertainment.
Hey Joe,I remember that old boathouse. My dad used to take us there to rent a canoe, and spend an afternoon paddling up and down the river. It was a great place!
I have never been to the boathouse, that said leaveit alone.
I am sick to death of the carping that this or that is not “profitable”. I am proud that our community has Exploration place, Cowtown, Botanica, and the Indian Center. These things make a community worth LIVING IN. I could give less than half a crap if some sick with greed developer or corporation could make more money on any of them.
Counter example? Gander Mountain was heavily subsidized by the taxpayers. I have absolutely no desire to go there. Apparently neither does anyone else. their parking lot is always empty.
Ah but that’s ok aint it? They are a big fat corporation brought here by tax dollars. If they fall on hard times the corporation will whine moan and complain that they need tax cuts or incentives to stay here………Raytheon and Boeing have been doing this game for years.
Not everything that is good is profitable. Very little that is profitable is aimed to the good. Let’s fund the good things in this community with a big fat tax on Raytheon, Boeing, Spirit, and Koch industries. They don’t like it? Let’em move. I think you’ll find they knuckle under pretty quick. A Good labor force is hard to find whether they think so or not. If not? Well let ‘em pay back the bribe money in abatements they have recieved over the years.
My bad. I picked on just the local masters of greed and extortionists of tax dollars. I missed a couple big fish.
Hey Wal mart? Hey Wal Greens? You wanna trade here then foot the bill that pays for people to give a damn about living here.
JR you make a good point.
But about Gander Mountain’s parking lot being empty, I thought that too. When you drive over Kellogg and don’t see a car, especially on the top level of the parking garage.
So I decided to take a look. To my surprise, Ganger Mountain is actually busy and bustling with people.
There is a large parking lot underneath Kellogg, which I was unaware. You can only see it if you drive up to Ganger Mountain front door. It is directly south of the parking garage. Also the gound floor of the parking garage was full.
So actually Gander Mountain is teaming with shoppers, we just don’t see them, especially from Kellogg.
I think that top level parking garage is empty, because people may be aprehensive about driving up there. A great majority of people don’t use multi-level parking garages, so I think they are scared or something.
Just wanted to give you the heads up on GM.
I’m a past board member of the Arkansas River Foundation which is the organization that was responsible in raising the Wichita Boathouse.
Joe simply doesn’t have his facts right. The city forced the user groups out by tearing down the annex where the rowing shells were stored, moving the River Kids to Watson park where the city ended their budget, and chased off the Wichita Sailing Club by preventing them access to the boathouse.
The original intention of the Boathouse was to promote boating activities on the river reminiscent of the old Riverside Boathouse on the Little Arkansas river. Not a museum.
It was funded almost entirely with private fund raising of course with matching contributions from Bill Koch. It is something that the people of Wichita were and still are proud of.
Although the operating costs were too high for the daily operations to continue, the city stepped in to keep the doors open. However, even after the user groups were forced out, the boathouse maintains rental of the banquet hall and staffs the visitor center. There is a continued demand for a banquet hall with a serene water backdrop for receptions, weddings, and even political parties. There is an 18 month backlog of weekends booked for use of the banquet hall.
The boathouse along with the Jayhawk continue to entice people to enjoy the area near the river.
From the City Web site: “The Wichita Boathouse is one of the area’s premier attractions, featuring the permanent display of the Jayhawk, an International America’s Cup Class yacht, and other exciting exhibits. Reminiscent of the old Riverside Boathouse, its predecessor of a century ago, today’s Boathouse not only serves as an information center for visitors to Wichita but also literally the hub of river-related activity in Wichita.”
The City is investing a great amount in the development of the WaterWalk which makes it hard to understand why the City would even consider demolishing the central element for river front activity. There are a lot of other locations for an office building to be built which would offer the same tax base and job opportunities as offered for this site. Wichita does not need a monstrous office building to block any remaining views and access to the river.
Although the Boathouse operations nearly break even, a visitor center cannot be expected to generate a profit. However, there is value in the beauty and functionality of the Boathouse.
You have seen the editorial responses in the Eagle and several groups are getting petitions for saving the boathouse. The groups in favor of demolishing the Boathouse are only interested in the capital gains the prime location will bring them. If the city is interested in revenue, then they should consider the proposals submitted for converting it to a restaurant. These would keep the aesthetic ambiance and maintain public access.
With the many other controversial issues the City Commission is facing surrounding the downtown area, they are making a big mistake if they tear down the one shining star in downtown Wichita.
I am new to Wichita, having lived here just over a year. The one thing I find that concerns me is that we have a beautiful river which is under utilized and to my mind overlooked.
Where are the restaurants, the river walks, the boutiques, canals, shops etc. It seems like from the reports here that 40 years ago Wichita had a bustling river walk – it looks like the city and the developers messed up a good thing. I can’t believe the island was destroyed, the boating facilities done away with, all activities reduced to nothing – what is wrong with this city council ?! – forget a half sized arena, put your money into a revitalized river walk, save the boathouse, better still invest in a proper boating and sailing facility.
As to exploration place – I went there once, it cost me over $50 to take my family there – I will not be going again. one can only wonder how and when the less fortunate of this city ever get to experience facilities like these. Seems to me the city cares more about scoring political points than anything to do with actually making this city better.
If anyone has been to Indianapolis and have seen how they revived their downtown – they did a beautiful job. Our city needs something like this, it needs vision, it needs love, care and pride – not the nonsense we have now!