The Wichita City Council released $11.4 million more for the WaterWalk development this week, including $1 million to help draw a major restaurant to the riverfront project. But developers won’t identify the restaurant being courted for a month and a half or so. Officials are probably trying to avoid another Bass Pro Shops bait-and-switch situation. But as we noted in an editorial Tuesday, saying only “that it’s a ‘destination restaurant’ with high entertainment value is asking taxpayers to take quite a leap of faith. (Yes, that description could fit, say, Rainforest Cafe, the ESPN Zone or the Hard Rock Cafe; but it also could fit Chuck E. Cheese.)”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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33 Comments
Well, as soon as Gander Mountain goes belly up they will have a large place to put a RainForest type place. Then it to can become a warehouse all over again later. If they want a “destination” spot that actually bring in money they need to explain in no uncertain terms to the state legislature they intend eventually to have a full tilt large casino with shows, card games et al in the center of all this fiasco. They will likely need something to subsidize the whole shebang. With all the emphasis on the horribly boring “family friendly” crap shoot they need something for grown ups to spend big money on and have fun after the rest of the sidewalks are rolled up at 9 pm. We go to OK City regular to attend many of the night time venues in Bricktown. I hope they dont relegate the Waterwalk to a large Chuck E Cheese atmosphere for the entire place, filled with screaming kids and adults dressed in Ball hats, Mullets, wife-beaters and other funny clothes.
They have an opportunity to do something and a casino would be a great addition – make something useful out of Century II.
MR. Bill,
Casinos do nothing but cause massive problems for most while lining the pockets of a few.
V.L.R.B!!!
They should bring Cheesecake factory.
Those ‘destination restaurants’ mentioned above are all niche restaurants, with a limited draw. The idea of spending tax dollars to try to attract a ‘trendy’ restaurant just seems wrong to me.
Where is the city ‘marketing’ effort, of bringing businesses to town based on the merits of the city? Gee, what a concept.
City govt is not a real estate developer.
That is one of many reasons why this project is just so stupid.
When will we learn that govt should not be in private sector businesses?
I’ll say it’s a long shot for a Hard Rock, but it would be the best one.
Rainforest Cafe, isn’t that geared for kids?
It isn’t going to be ESPN Zone. That’s for sure.
It’s not going to be Medieval Times.
It is either going to be a famous cusize restaurant, rather than a theme restaurant, or it’s going to be a Toby Keith’s.
They could put a Hooters down there too.
I would like a Hard Rock.
So williams, you are for subsidies until you are against them, then you are not? That must be a dizzying spin.
Farm subsidies = badbig restaurant subsides = good?
I see. Maybe williams and his buddies who worship at the alter of competition, free markets, and captialists is not speaking out against THIS subsidy of a large business?
I am beginning to see the “logic” here. It is BIG business subsidy and tax breaks that are good. BIG subsidies like for the Wichita airlines are great, but subsidizing a small biz, like say a family farm or a mom and pop restaurant would be bad?
Maybe he can provide some clarity here as to why some subisdies for BIG business help the economy but subsidies for small biz, like family farms, are an evil plot by leftist democrats to destroy the economy.
I love it when they tie themselves in knots. Whatever will williams do? Go back on his tirades about leftist subsidies, or tone down the cheerleading for downtown Wichita? Clearly support big subsidies while lying about small farms? Tell us that one kind of subsidy is leftist but another is rightist?
heheheh. Cant wait to hear the spin on THIS one. The logic must be nearly dead from all that torturing.
No! I don’t support the subsidies for the Restaurant. There is your logic.
I do support it for the aiport, because it is for the public and the use of transportation. Just like government funds are used to build roads.
Joe, I just can’t see a Hard Rock Wichita restaurant, even on the river.
I think that chain fancies its brand and investment in same far too highly to drop a franchise anywhere near Steve Abrams (not least because, for HRC patrons at least, what naturally follows any discussion of our feisty KBOE, and its humble redefinition of all science just special for Kansas kids, is Fred Phelps).
I think that leaves us with Toby Keith (I had no idea that he’s in the restaurant biz). His restaurant patrons probably love the KBOE and likely consider any discussion of it that insists on Fred Phelps as context baffling then, after a bit, unfair.
I could be wrong, though.
For the record, I’m a fan of None of the Above.
flike, gmc is not gonna like you tying the Kansas Board of Evangelicals to fred.
Why do you hate kansas? hehehehehe
Flike
Ya really think a restaurant chain thinks about KBoE issues? I doubt it; it comes down to dollars, period. Is there traffic enough, and disposable income enough, to make the business profitable. Even if they know about the KBoE issues, I doubt seriously if they care. It’s just not relevant to their business.
And tying that, using guilt by association, to Phelps is just silly. That’s KFG strategy (”anyone who disagrees with me must support Phelps” – her 70% of Kansans only different by degrees nonsense). And as I preview this, I see I’m right, again. KFG is right on schedule.
Is there traffic enough and disposable income enough to be profitable? I’ll leave that to the business types. I suppose it depends in large part on the restaurant. Frankly, I’m with Joe on one aspect – what’s the city doing playing real estate developer in the first place?
heheh, re-read the post. YOU are right on schedule gmc. I told flike you wouldnt like it and guess what, it only took 15 minutes from flike’s post, and eight minutes from my post.
heheheheh. so predictable.
And seventy percent of kansans DO differ from fred only by degree.
…and gmc, really slow for you now, flike said it is the customer demographic for the HRC that will shy away from kansas, not HRC itself. Although, as you point out, they are gonna look at potential traffic, the demographics of wichita, the demographics of likely visitor.
That may lead them to conclude there wouldnt be enough progressives in kansas to fill a booth at HRC.
Now if ya just had a jesus/reagan/bush cafe, they might flock. hehe no pun intended.
“And seventy percent of kansans DO differ from fred only by degree.”
Thanks. You made my point. Again. And again.
Tell me again why anyone who disagrees with you, apparantly on any issue (how a restaurant is relevent to this is beyond me) is necessarily an ally of that ass? 99.999% of Kansans, of course, want nothing to do with Phelps, but that doesn’t prevent you from painting with a broad brush. Brush, hell, you just throw the muck around indiscriminately.
These are the same type of tactics Coulter and yes, Fred, uses. And just how are you different?
I’m not gonna get into a pissing contest on this. Just pointing out the obvious.
You may be right about HRC, gmc. My point is that they have a HUGE investment in the HRC brand. I don’t see how, given how the culture wars go in Kansas, that brand and the investment underlying it wouldn’t suffer. Franchise strategies are the things of Biz skool PhD’s. Believe me, it’ll come up at meetings.
And read carefully. I didn’t write that the KBOE is guilty of anything by way of Fred Phelps. I wrote that in trying to calculate the staggering arrogance displayed by the KBOE, things snap in place pretty quickly when you take into context the historic and social factors that have led to a Kansan like Fred Phelps.
hehehe. And I am not the one who first brought it up, lawyer boy. I responded to flike’s post.
But dont let that stop you from using a tactic you think will somehow shame me or turn public opinion against me. hehehehehehehehhe. ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And no, it isnt people who disagree with me. Hell, JR and I dont agree on immigration either. XXX and I disagree on gun control, and DD and I disgree on democrats and governor leadership.
Nope, it is just pompus right wing jackasses that get compared to fred. Oh yea, and homophobes like nathan.
And… again… seventy percent of kansas differs from fred only by degree. And whether you like it or not, 99.9 percent of the WORLD associates fred, and also terry and joe, with Kansas.
That isnt my fault. Look in the mirror kansas, and then CHANGE that perception. Otherwise, the tie between fred and the majority of kansans is cast in concrete.
gmc and his little jabs at me cant change that.
heheheheheh
The only responsibility for Phelps is with Phelps. Trying to tar Kansans with responsibility for an ass like Phelps (and I hope that is not your intent – that’s KFG’s tactic) is wrong and irresponsible. And when he keeps coming up in issue after issue (and I know, it’s KFG that keeps stirring THAT pot), we give him more credit and influence than he deserves.
Will Kansas’ culture wars figure into an HRC decision? I don’t know, they might. I suspect the only place Kansas’ BoE issues really matter is in Kansas. The rest of the county hardly notices.
Fred is from Missississippi. He is not a Kansan, but instead is an interloper who should hanged by the neck until dead.
OMG, this is TOO funny.
“I suspect the only place Kansas’ BoE issues really matter is in Kansas. The rest of the county hardly notices.”
Rolling for real now. Hehehe. wiping tears. Ya, the country hardly notices the Kansas Board of Evangelicals. They hardly notice fred.
ROFLMQAO!!!!!!!!!! Do you only read kansas papers? Do you not listen to television or radio? hehehe.
Google fred and see how many articles in NATIONAL media tie fred to kansas.
Google the KBOE and see how many NATIONAL articles appear that tie them to fred and the general jackassery of kansas.
Yeah, that is why letterman, leno, TDS, colbert, etc. ALL have made huge hay about the KBOE, it’s attachment to the scopes monkey trial, and fred.
HEE HEE HEE. Oh yea, NO ONE but me EVER talks about the wingnuttery of the KBOE or ties fred to kansas. I guess that is why the WE devoted a whole THREAD to the subject of how fred and the boe make kansas the LAUGHINGSTOCK of the nation.
Ahem. Not that we care of course what the rest of the country thinks. They are just damn latte drinking, well educated blue state euroweenies, no?
I am just stating the obvious. Heheh. But dont let that fact keep you from dying on the barricades on this issue.
Just keep denying that kansas, fred, connie, corkins, and the whole KBOE gang isnt tied together in the national consciousness.
Maybe if you wish real hard, the reality will go away and your fantasy of “I suspect the only place Kansas’ BoE issues really matter is in Kansas. The rest of the county hardly notices” will come true.
Click your heels three times.
heheheh still laughing. If we ever needed a window into gmc’s thinking, I think we just got it!
John Brown, you New York native you, I believe that Fred’s native state is far less widely known than the KBOE and its redefinition of science.
Funny sig, though.
Well, that’s embarrassing.
Make that Connecticut, not New York.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_%28abolitionist%29#Early_years
flikeYou were reasonably close – at least it wasn’t totally across country:)
Hey, to live up to the Kansas image why don’t we open a Carry Nation theme Salon? The possibilities are endless.
I would love to see Dave and Busters come to town.
As a native Kansan that now lives in Arizona, I can tell you that the only things that people in other areas of the country notice about Kansas is the nutball stuff and bad weather.
Stories about Kansas that I have seen in the local or national media since leaving KS a few years ago.
1. Fred Phelps and his anti-gay protests, they always mention Topeka and Kansas as the home of his church and band of followers
2. The effort to remove evolution from the schools and teach creationism and intelligent design instead
3. BTK – they especially like the suburban, white man that attends church in the heartland as a crazy killer angle
4. Kline and his attempt to obtain the private medical records of women that have had abortions, he is portrayed as a religious nutcase with a large base of support.
5. Tornados, hail and miscellaneous other weather stories.
The fact that Freds kids all have State jobs is embarrassing and could be construed as Kansas support of the Phelps church by non Kansans if their employment was wide known
WOW.
Way to spin the thread guys!!
I think an ESPN SPORTZONE would do wonders in this town. This town loves sports, but feels empty because the majors are down the highway. It would cheer us up a bit.
I wish it was ESPN Zone but if I’m not mistaken they only locate in cities with at least two major league teams. I’m hoping for Rainforest (no, it’s not a kid’s place), Casa Bonita or Hard Rock (Louisville has one for God’s sake).
Why the obsession with national chains that cater primarily to hayseed tourists? I am sure that a local restaurant owner or chef could put together a great concept that would be unique to Wichita with better quality food than another run of the mill chain like Hard Rock or Cheesecake Factory. I remember when Wichita was known for breaking new ground in the food business, not trying to imitate KC or some other city. I will never understand the appeal of Cheesecake Factory, long waits, bad service and food that is barely a step up from the frozen food aisle at Dillons. If you enjoy the Cheesecake Factory experience, go to Applebee’s and pay double, it will feel just the same.
The city will probably put in a super spangles to make up to the Stevens for the genesis debacle.
Why dont they try for a Costco, Whole Fodds or Trader Joe’s. All bring in more people than any lousy restaurant chain.
Millions more of my tax dollars being squandered on private development and the City owning “the means of production” in WaterWalk. And just what economic theory is it that calls for this sort of thing? And hos successful was that economic theory in the USSR?