The SC Telcom building. The KSB&T building. The Guild Plaza Hotel. The Wichita Royale. The Wichita Plaza. Or the home of the former Wichita Club. By whatever name, the 19-story, 44-year-old downtown landmark building, whose verdant sixth-floor pool area was one of the city’s best party places, deserves to see more action again. So it was great to learn more this week about the plans that the “Minnesota Guys” of Real Development have for the building, including a $5 million-plus renovation to get it into shape for more business tenants and possibly another hotel. Just more evidence that downtown Wichita is rebounding in a big way.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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13 Comments
Good. Last time I was there they had a huge ugly sign on the building that said SC Telecom. Looked like hell! They should remove it and put the sign back on the top of the building that used to say “The Action Bank” then “Regal Inn” and then time and temp!
I know SC Telecom is no longer there (I think it’s Prairie Communications or something like that.)
But for a very short time they had green neon lights on the edges of the building and of course the SC Telecom sign was lit as well.
With the Garvey Building, Epic Building, Century II, Hyatt Hotel and the other buildings downtown at night, the SC Telecom building look cool and blended in very well. It made it all look like a very active downtown at night.
But once they turn off the lights to the SC Telecom building, then it looked dead.
I thought the building had partly become apartments/condos.
Rebounding in a big way? A $5 mil renovation is nice, but in the overall scheme of things it’s pretty small potatoes, isn’t it?
Rebounding in a big way would be multiple major area employers (each of whom employing at least 1000 people) deciding to locate downtown. That is what’s needed to drive long term growth downtown.
Until the city starts allowing curbside parking on the streets, ain’t nuthin’ gonna revitalize downtown the way it needs to be.
I don’t know Ralph. Chicago has a pretty lively downtown without a lot of on-street parking. And Wichita DOES have on-street.
As for the KSBT building (I still call it that a lot) it has plenty of garage parking – assuming they fix that up as well. Since we are likely looking at offices and/or hotel I would think garage would suffice.
Comparing us to Chicago is not apple to apple. While the KSBT building does have a parking garage the vast majority of buildings do not. The same logic that some use about the arena and parking is similar. For businesses to remain viable in the core area, there needs to be convenient parking. If you look at the historical photos of the city, we had on-street parking. One of the main reasons Foulston Siefkin left the BofA building was the lack of parking.
There is plenty of parking downtown, but the problem is that it is often times not close to the place you wanted to go.
Another problem with parking is that vast majority of people don’t even know where to park or where the lots are. Unless you work downtown and know the area, it can be difficult to navigate to find a parking space, those open to the public vs the private lots.
We need to really work on that. So I agree with you Ralph. We need to figure out a good way to move people around downtown and parking access.
It’s a difficult issue. Most tenants of downtown office spaces recognize the problem. Unfortunately, most of downtown is owned by trusts or out of state ownership who have nothing vested other than depositing their montly lease checks.
When I visited San Antonio a while back I parked once each day downtown and then explored by foot and transit. That seemed to work well.
One big difference between walking along the RiverWalk there and in Old Town here is that I didn’t have to dodge cars. It was long-ago proposed that the brick streets in Old Town be made car-free during the afternoons/evenings (allow deliveries overnight/early AM) to improve the experience. Parking could be accesses from the ‘paved’ streets.
I suppose comparing to San Antonio is also not apple-apple.
Probably not, but the SA Riverwalk is a fun experience. Also, their “river” is much narrower than ours.
SA and Minneapolis’s Nicollet Mall illustrate the type of urbanism that can be achieved if the community is willing to forsake its love with the almighty automobile. Old Town in Wichita will never achieve its true potential unless we, as Ben noted, restrict auto access.
Gee Ben, we agree. ;)
You are correct that their “river” is much lass than ours. That is why my comparison is with Old Town rather than our river (for which I would have VERY different plans.
I have suggested vehicle restrictions in Old Town; my suggestions have NOT been favorable received.
I think the key here is to make walking a pleasant experience. When I am up at WSU I don’t go back to my car to drive from one part of campus to another. WSU is a very pleasant and relaxing place to stroll (not the changed terminology).
For the sake of the Arena I hope those responsible find a way to make the Arena area that way. They are counting on it.
One of my “dreams” for downtown (where my office is located) is that there be parking, easily accessible for each block; not that I want a lot of automobiles around (I don’t), but for clients’ convenience. It seems that the average resident here thinks there is a divine right to be able to park right in front of the door of where s/he is going, even though at Towne East, e.g., they’ll park a substantial distance away (although griping) and walk to the freaking stores, often more than the distance they would walk downtown.
My preference is to ban autos from Old Town, in fact all of downtown, making it pedestrian friendly, combined with transportation between various places, then back to the lots located on the periphery for the folks to get into their vehicles and return home. I’m not going to hold my breath, however.