The Kansas Historic Sites Board of Review has nominated the area bounded by Douglas, Second, Washington and the elevated railroad tracks to both the state and national registers of historic places.

The nomination means automatic acceptance on the state level, but a national review committee will decide within the next few months on its acceptance at that level.

The May-June 2003 Kansas Preservation newsletter says the "Wichita Historic Warehouse and Jobbers District...is being nominated for its commercial association with the growth and development of Wichita ...and is the potential site of many preservation and rehabilitation projects."

02/06/08

Girl Scout Little House is Endangered by Neglect

The Girl Scout Little House, 1221 W. 11th St., in North Riverside Park has been a familiar Wichita landmark for over 80 years. But it may not last too much longer without some tender loving care and needed maintenance. Inside and outside the structure is starting to show signs of neglect.

The building was not always a Girl Scout facility. It had its beginning as an effort to reduce infant mortality rates by providing fresh air in a clean and insect -free environment. 

"The first baby camp was on the grounds of Wesley Hospital in 1918. Next, there was another structure that had a very brief existence at 1140 Forest Ave. from 1919 to 1920. The existing building was built in 1920 after the other burned down." (From information supplied by Jim Mason, Naturalist, Great Plains Nature Center. Researched from the Wichita Eagle and Wichita Beacon.)

It was known as the Fresh Air Baby Camp when it opened. The building contained an open crib room, isolation room, laundry, bathroom and kitchen.

In 1926, the operation was moved to the Wesley Hospital grounds and the building was leased by the city to the Girl Scouts. They used it as day camp and scout activity center until 2001 when they decided to give up the building. It is presently vacant and unused. As an important part of Wichita’s history and the source of fond memories for many former Girl Scouts, it needs to be restored and maintained.

Crumbling Ark Valley Lodge is Saved

At last the crumbling, deteriorated old Ark Valley Lodge, 615 N. Main St., is being preserved and just in the nick of time. It would soon have been victim of the laws of gravity and the elements of Mother Nature.

The two-story red brick Ark Valley Masonic Hall was built in 1910 and is one of the last remaining commercial buildings from the African-American business district of early Wichita. Reportedly the structure was designed by Josiah Walker, a Wichita African-American architect. The Arkansas Valley Lodge #21of the Prince Hall Masons was located on the second floor. It was used for meetings, banquets, bazaars and as a dance hall and was one of Wichita's oldest social centers of the African-American community. The headquarters for an African-American YMCA was also located here.

The building has been on the Wichita, Kansas and National Registers of Historic Places since 1977.  It has been on HPAs list of  At Risk Sites since 1997 and the Most Endangered List of the Kansas Preservation Alliance. Ownership of the building passed to Sedgwick County in 1986 after it had been vacant for over a decade.

Broadview Hotel Makes Historic List The National Trust for Historic Preservation has added the Radisson Broadview Hotel to its list of Historic Hotels of America.

Built in 1922, the Broadview Hotel soon became one of the Midwest's premiere hotels.

The NTHP web site says that "During Prohibition, the Broadview's basement was rumored to be a speakeasy featuring a 600 seat restaurant as well as nightly drinking and gambling."

The Crystal Ballroom was added in 1948 and boasts a mosaic mural by Native American artist Blackbear Bosin. The mural depicts "The Advance of Civilization in Kansas."

Over the years, however, the hotel's interior deteriorated. After a progression of new owners in the 1990s, each vowing to renovate but failing to do so, the Broadview was purchased in the fall of 2001 by Mordechei Boaziz of Miami. He vowed to spend whatever was necessary to properly renovate the hotel to what general manager John Butler calls a "1920s nostalgia look."

For the third straight year, the Board has voted to serve as a sponsor in the Wichita River Festival. The HPA Historic Tour will be the first and second weekends: May 11 and 12, and May 18 and 19. There will be a total of 10 tour sites: five sites the first weekend and five different sites the second weekend. The theme of this year’s tour will be "Restorations in Progress" and will feature such projects as the McAdams/Fultz House and the Soldiers and Sailors Civil War Monument.

The 1919 Birney Trolley No. 255 owned by the "Friends of the Trolley," which had been sitting outside, was formally donated to HPA on Aug. 21, 2001. Thereafter, the trolley was moved inside into storage at the Garvey Public Warehouse, 5755 South Hoover, on Nov. 2, 2001. The entire cost of the move was donated by Belger Cartage (Thanks to Mike Foster), and the entire cost of storage has been donated by the Garvey Public Warehouse (Thanks to Jack Brooks). The transfer of ownership was made possible through the efforts of Bill Ellington, retired city historian. HPA plans to restore both this trolley and the association’s other streetcar, the 1915 St. Louis Car Co. Trolley No. 186. Both are the only known trolleys from Wichita in existence.

Since its move at 1 a.m. on Monday, July 23, 2001 from 911 N. Topeka to 1437 N. Fairview, the McAdams/Fultz House project has been moving steadily forward. The basement has been dug and the footings have been poured. Most recently, the foundation walls have been completed. Currently, plans are being finalized with Willard Ebersole, the general contractor, and Nick King, of King’s Solar & Plumbing, to set in and install the plumbing in the basement.

A temporary construction power pole and meter will be installed to provide electricity to the site, and the plumbing installation will begin before the end of the month of January. Thereafter, the concrete slab/floor can be poured by Neal’s Foundations, Inc.

The Mc-Lean Fountains at Douglas and McLean Boulevard are again running. They first flowed July 4, 1934 and were built in honor of Ben McLean, a Wichita mayor and banker who was one of the early Wichitans to work for beautification of the Arkansas riverbank. The renovation of the 67-year-old fountains are part of the city’s $20 million river walk project and cost approximately $90 thousand.

02/06/08