The Downtowner

THE DOWNTOWNER

The Michigan building, spotted here between the trees, will be demolished to make way for a parking garage.

DELANO DOWNTOWN WICHITA OLD TOWNVol. 1 No. 2 JUNE 2009

9 Hundreds flock to Downtown and Old TownSquare during vigil for George Tiller.

12 The night the lights went on. A look back atearly Main Street and the “Great White Way.”

11 A flower grows in OldTown: A look at how theheavy works of the city’ssculpture ‘WalkAbout’were installed.

••

BARRY OWENS

Michigan building cannot be saved, developer says, and will soon disappear. Page 4

ENDANGERED SPECIES

2 THE DOWNTOWNER z JUNE 2009

3THE DOWNTOWNER z JUNE 2009

COME AND GET IT

We walk these streets like everyone else, scratching

our heads and wondering how it got this way. Yes,there is development. Yes, the mayor and city seemserious about revitalization. Yes, those “Minnesota

Guys” are going gangbusters. Yes, the arena looks almost ready tohost the second coming of the Rolling Stones. Still, there is anempty feeling down here that is hard to shake. Take a stroll on aSunday sometime, as we did one blazing afternoon last month. Getyourself a couple of blocks outside of Old Town in any directionand then look for the signs. For rent, for sale, for lease, forgotten.Where did everybody go? Why? How could this beautiful oldstorefront be bare? How is it possible to walk through the land-marked Board of Trade Center on a weekday and not see anotherliving soul, to spend 20 minutes seated behind a desk in an emptyconference room just to see if someone will come along to kickyou out? No one will. Why are there statues of people on the side-walk, but no real people? Are those memorials? Now, we knowthere are any number of legitimate answers to most of those ques-tions, and those questions are probably best posed to sociologists,economics professors and the like. I’m not one of those. I’m anewspaper delivery boy who does a little writing on the side. Idon’t have the answers. But I do have a bit of advice: don’t waitfor the developers, the consultants, the master plans, the Visioneers,the anchor tenants, the parking garages, the grocery stores or theRolling Stones. I’m not waiting until it is safe, I’m not waitinguntil someone else tells me it is OK to come back Downtown. I’mcoming back now, and I’m bringing my newspapers with me. Andon a good month, hopefully very soon, I’m moving the whole she-bang into one of those old storefronts. I might even get two ofthem and knock out the wall. Again, I’m no expert, but I knowthis: if you want your Downtown back, then come and get it. Waittoo long and it won’t be yours anymore.

BARRY OWENS

EDITOR

THE DOWNTOWNERVOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 JUNE 2009

PUBLISHERJESSICA FREY OWENS

EDITORBARRY OWENS

CONTRIBUTORSKATIE GORDON, JOE STUMPE

ADVERTISING DIRECTORJESSICA FREY OWENS

THE DOWNTOWNERPublished monthly byThe Downtowner and

The College Hill Commoner337 N. Holyoke

Wichita, K.S. 67208316-689-8474

[email protected]

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

LETTERS

WRITE THE EDITOR: We welcome your letters. No subject is out ofbounds, so long as it is local. Letters should be limited to 300 wordsand may be edited for clarity and length. All letters must include theauthor’s name.

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CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS: An editing last month result-ed in an incomplete article on the history of the Shirkmere Apartments.The final sentence was omitted. We regret the error, and in fact weresick about the whole thing all month long. You can find the completestory in this issue on page 11.

S U B -S C R I B E

It’s a free paper and you canpick it up just about anywherearound here. But if you don’tget around here much, we’rehappy to get it to you.

Call 689-8474 for details.

THE DOWNTOWNERDELANO DOWNTOWN WICHITA OLD TOWN

BY BARRY OWENS

The six-story Michigan building,long vacant, leaky and unloved, iscoming down. The once grand build-ing, now most noticeable for the ply-wood in the windows and over alldecrepitude, will be demolished tomake way for a parking garage.

Downtown developers MichaelElzufon and Dave Lundberg, with RealDevelopment, had hoped to save thebuilding and convert it to apartments.When interior damage—rotten floors, aroof beyond repair—was revealed to betoo great, the plan was then to at leastsave the terra cotta facade. But lastmonth the developers won approvalfrom the city to knock the whole thingdown.

Elzufon points to a recent inspec-tion by engineering consultants and the

subsequent report which detailed “costprohibitive” damage and stabilityissues (“tall slender buildings havelarge overturning moments on thelower level lateral system,” the reportread in part.

“Had we known years ago what welearned [in the report] I may not havegone through many of the motions thatI did,” Elzufon told The Downtowner.“I am not in the position of wanting tosee people falling three floors anddying. We unfortunately had to put it tosleep, so to speak.”

Elzufon said the building would bedemolished within a few months.

“We are going to try and save andpreserve any and every element of thebuilding that different organizationsshow an interest in,” he said. “ A num-ber of exterior features and elements

are going to be donated.”Some parts may end up in other

Real Development projects.“The stairs are beautiful, they are

historic, they are great,” he said.The building, at 206 E. Douglas,

went up in 1909. It was built by OscarBarnes, a druggist, and his sonMaurice. The pair were early develop-ers of Downtown.

For many decades the buildinghoused music stores, including theMartin & Adams Music Company, theAdams Bennett Music Company andthe Bennett Music House. Its last longterm tenant was Rector’s Books (oldshelving units and racks are still visiblethrough the dusty storefront panes) butthe ground floor retail space has housedtemporary tenants in more recent years.

For more than a decade the build-ing was listed as one of the top ten at-risk sites by the Wichita PreservationOffice and the Historic PreservationAlliance of Wichita and SedgwickCounty. The Alliance was formed in1996, shortly after another vacant,leaky and unloved building, the Allis

Hotel, was demolished following longyears of neglect.

Three years ago the Michigan wasnominated to be placed on the NationalRegister of Historic Places, but didn’tmake the cut. Two years ago the citybought the building and the adjacentland and gave it to Real Development,with the expectation that taxes generat-ed by the development of condos there,and in the building next door, ExchangePlace, would generate enough taxes topay off the city’s investment.

The Michigan building has lan-guished ever since.

The other day, a pair of touristssnapping photos of statues on the side-walks were directed to take a look at thebuildings on the corner, one modernwith a pink hued marble facade and theother one classic, but crumbling terracotta. They were asked to guess whichone was coming down to make room fora parking garage.

“Oh,” a tourist from Nebraska,Patti Lofquist, replied when told thecorrect answer. “You have got to bekidding me.”


The Michigan building never won protected status;now it will disappear from the Downtown skyline.

The Michigan Building, built in 1909, has long sat empty. Developers recently had hoped to convert it to apartments, but damage from neglect is said to be too great. It is slated tobe demolished this summer. It will be replaced with a parking garage to house the vehicles of condo owners expected to move into the building next door when it is renovated.

PHOTOS: BARRY OWENS

Out with the Old

BY JOE STUMPE

Grant Rine always told his wife hewould own a pipe organ one day. Nowhe does—along with the historicchurch on the edge of College Hill thathouses it.

Grant and Janet Rine bought theformer Hillside Christian and FirstSouthern Baptist church at Hillsideand English this spring. They’vescrapped their original plan for thebuilding and admit they don’t knowexactly what they’re going to do withthe 32,000-square-foot structure.

But Janet says they haven’t experi-enced any buyer’s regret.

“You know, we haven’t had one,”she said during a tour of the building.“We’ve always liked the unique.We’ve been drawn to that from theget-go.”

The Rines, who live in CollegeHill, also own Caffe Moderne, whichJanet runs, and Old TownArchitectural Salvage, which is radia-tion oncologist Grant’s sideline.

Most neighborhood residents rec-ognize the church they bought by thetowering columns and steep stairs thatfront the entrance along Hillside.What the Rines found inside was justas interesting, from exquisite stainedglass to a huge puppet collection to theorgan with pipes that take up tworooms in the rafters.

The church was built in two stages.Members of Hillside Christian

Church, part of the Disciples of Christmovement, built the sanctuarybetween 1923 and 1926 at a cost of$170,000, becoming one of the city’sfirst congregations to move fromDowntown to what was then Wichita’s

“suburbs.” The adjoining educationbuilding was added in 1952.

“The bones of (the sanctuary) arebasically Greek classical,” Grant said,“but there are other styles used that aretypical of early 20th Century architec-ture, including the arts and craftsmovement.”

The education building is styled inwhat Janet calls “mid-century mod-ern,” including some touches that are“very Frank Lloyd Wright,” with asub-basement fallout shelter.

Hillside Christian sold the buildingin the late 1970s when the congrega-tion moved further east to its currentlocation at 8330 E. Douglas. The nexttenant, First Southern Baptist, occu-pied the building until four years ago.However, most members had movedto Emmanuel Baptist on south Topekaby that time.

The winnowing of the congrega-tion is apparently responsible for thesomewhat eerie scene the Rines foundwhen they took over: a closet full ofchoir robes hanging just below nametags, hymnals and Bibles left open, anursery full of toys. Not to mention 11pianos, a puppet collection that was akey part of the church’s children’sministry, racks of folding chairs, vin-tage audio-visual equipment andmuch more.

“They looked like they had justbeen played with,” Janet said of thetoys. “It’s like a bomb went off andthey just disappeared.”

Janet says the couple got a gooddeal on the building and initiallyplanned to move their architecturalsalvage business there. But after host-ing an open house there last month,

they decided the space—make thatspaces—they’d acquired could beput to better use.

The main sanctuary, for instance,has 752 seats in a banked theater set-ting. There’s a quaint smaller chapel, alarge commercially equipped kitchen,a fellowship hall with a stage, and afloor broken up into a classrooms anda nursery.

Janet thinks the fellowship hallcould be used for music, theater andparties, with food and drink broughtfrom the kitchen next door; the largesanctuary would lend itself to largerconcerts. The chapel could be “reallydolled up” for intimate weddings, shesays. Her chef at Caffe Modernewants to use the classroom space for aculinary school.

The Rines have hired workers toclean up the property. They’vealready power washed the front stairsand cleared a piece of land behind thechurch that they’re offering to theneighborhood as a community gar-den. Janet would love to see neigh-bors pull up a chair, pour a glass ofwine or lemonade and watch thetomatoes grow on a summer’sevening.

Next up are repairs to the roof. Acaretaker is moving in to keep an eyeon progress.

Neighbors are encouraged.“They’re restoring the beauty and

aesthetics of it and I think that’sgreat,” said Dale Hancock, whoattended the church.

As for the organ, Grant Rine says,“There’s no question in my mind thatthe pipe organ will be hooked up bythe end of the year.”


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[email protected] business owners purchase historic church in College Hill ‘suburbs’

The former Hillside Christian and First Southern Baptist church at Hillside and English. The church was recently purchased byDowntown business owners Grant and Janet Rine. The couple say they are unsure of their plans for the building.

JOE STUMPE

Read local. Shop local.Advertise local.

689-8474(It’s a local call.)


BY JOE STUMPE

Tornado sirens wail and light-

ning flashes as I wheel throughDowntown with 30 bicyclists ona Friday afternoon. I’m wonder-

ing if our ride is going to turn stormyin another sense, too.

The ride is to be Wichita’s firstexperience with Critical Mass, a bicy-clists’ rights movement that started inSan Francisco in 1992 and has spreadaround the globe. In some cities,Critical Mass rides have led to majortraffic disruptions and the arrests ofcyclists.

As we gather in a parking lot of theDonut Whole on Douglas before theride, I ask organizer Mark Pendergrassif he’s planning any civil disobedi-ence. “I’m not going to,” he says. “Ifsomeone else wants to...”

Most of the cyclists feel — likePendergrass — that the city and itsmotorists range from indifferent to hos-tile in their treatment of two-wheelers.Marked bike lanes, buses equipped withbike lifts and other facilities are in short

supply. As for motorists, Pendergrasssays he’s never been struck by one, buthas gotten “pretty upset” over some closecalls.

Pendergrass had hoped for more par-ticipants but isn’t complaining, consider-ing the weather. Most of those who doshow up are younger (than me, at least)and male, although there are a fewwomen and older folks.

Among the more outspoken is JesseHermreck, a 29-year-old personal trainerat Genesis Health Club on Rock Road.He’s already commuted 60 miles on hisbike to and from Andover this week.“We’re way behind the status quo inother cities” for cycling facilities, hesays.

Not overly diplomatic, Hermrecksays a lot of Wichitans could benefitfrom biking. “There are a bunch of fatsoswalking around. We need to get moreactivity into our life.”

Most of the riders don’t know it,but a sympathetic city official is stand-ing by as they gather. Newly-electedCity Council member Janet Miller saw

a flier for the ride and came to showher support, if not her biking skills.

“I'm pro-bicycling,” Miller says. “Ithink there’s a pent-up demand forbike facilities — lifts, paths, racks.”

She notes that the city recentlyadded new bike paths in the Riversideand Midtown areas. Still, the city “justcan't go and put bike lanes in everystreet,” she says.

Hoping to beat the expected rain, wehead west on Douglas a few minutesbefore the scheduled 5:30 p.m. start. Ourbikes are a mix of standard 10-speedsand customized jobs with long“chopped” handlebars and other fea-tures. A three-wheeler carries a boom-box, providing the soundtrack for ourtrek.

At first, I’m mostly concerned withthe lightning, which is admittedly off inthe distance; I don’t want to becomeCritical Mass’ first martyr. Am I saferriding in or out of the pack? Will hunch-ing my shoulders make me a smaller tar-get?

But as my fellow riders shout and

wave to motorists — “Bikers rule, carsdrool!” — I begin to enjoy myself.

In response, there seems little to com-plain about. A large man in what lookslike an Army uniform taps his horn andwaves. A pretty blonde leaving theAnchor grins. I look back and note thatwe’re definitely slowing traffic in thelane behind us, but nobody is honking.

As we stop by the Quik Trip at theintersection of Douglas and Washington,someone in our group yells “Get a bike!!No more gas!” to the people filling up.They stare back, but it’s noisy and I’mafraid they’ve missed out on this particu-lar piece of advice.

We continue down Douglas, thenturn south on Broadway. At each stop-light, members of our group shout con-flicting instructions: We should all gothrough the intersection together, redlights be damned. We should wait untilwe can all make it through the intersec-tion safely. In this case, the stragglersmake it through as the light is turningred.


RIDERS ON THE STORMCRITICAL MASS CYCLISTS BRAVE TORNADO, TORRENTIAL RAIN & DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC.

Last month a loosely organized group of bicyclists,about 40 in all, set out from the Donut Whole during

rush hour traffic Downtown to prove a point—cyclists have as much right to be on the road as

cars. The ride was Downtown’s first experience withCritical Mass, a bicyclists’ rights movement.

(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

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The staff of a new Mexican restau-rant wave and smile. As we turn ontoWaterman, I spot four cops in the park-ing lot of the McDonald’s. Is this wherethings turn ugly? Nah, they’re just shoot-ing the breeze and don’t even appear tosee us.

But a man pulling out of the packedCentury II parking lot (it’s the last week-end of Riverfest) clearly thinks we’renuts.

“There’s a tornado over there,” hesays, pointing to the east. That’s a con-cern. I thought it was coming from theother direction.

Then we’re across the ArkansasRiver and seemingly out of the range ofany major traffic tie-up. On this day atleast, Downtown appears to be short ofcritical masses of both cyclists and cars.We tool down Maple, past the Stadiumbar and the real baseball stadium, thenturn north onto Seneca.

This takes us through Delano andacross the river again. We pass the Mid-American Indian Center, tennis centerand spectacular Keeper of the Plains stat-ue, then cross yet another stretch of river.

Our trip is to end by the fountains inRiverside Park along Nims, but notbefore a little drama. As we approach thefountains, members of our group startriding tight, fast circles around the near-

by roundabout. Soon, about a dozen carsare backed up, unable to pass. And soonafter that, two angry young men strideforward, telling the cyclists to “get the __ _ _ out of the way!”

Finally, our group moves on, turninginto Riverside Park. One rider splashesthrough the fountains, laughing. Back onNims, the two angry motorists have lefttheir car and (while peeling off theirshirts) are challenging some of thecyclists to fight.

Eventually, in the way these thingssometimes work out, nobody throws thefirst punch, and everybody goes his ownway. I’m not sure what the stunt at theroundabout proved. If I’d been behindus, I would have been ticked, too. Or asa friend at the bar will say later that night,“I’m all for bicyclists exercising theirrights, just as long as they stay out of myway.”

Back at Riverside, it starts to rain.Hard. I race home, arriving drenched andpanting. So there is that advantage to acar. Still, as I peel off my clothes, I real-ize I haven’t felt like this since I was akid.

It feels good.

Plans call for a Critical Mass ridethrough Wichita on the last Friday ofevery month. For more info, go toICTcritical.com.

RIDERS ON THE STORM(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6)

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HOT TIMES IN DELANOIf there was a moment last month

when summer seemed to unofficiallyarrive on the steamy streets of Delano, itcame about 5:17 pm on May 30. It wasthen and there, in the middle of DouglasAvenue, where hula girls in grass skirtswere shaking their hips. Chromegleamed up down the avenue from thehot rods parked at the curb, waves ofheat shimmering from their cherry redhoods. In the middle of the street a

woman carrying snow cones picked upher pace so that they might not meltbefore she got across.

It was Rumble in Delano, an annualcar show and hot rod culture event in theneighborhood, and it was a scorcher.The pin-up girls carried parasols.

It was the second year for the event,which was organized by Delano mer-chants Kelsey Metzinger, owner ofBungalow 26, and Cassie Hardenbrook,

owner of Bohemia Healing Spa &Apothecary. The event is a fund raiserfor the neighborhood with proceedsgenerated from the sale of pin-up calen-dars to go toward the purchase of bicy-cle racks and other amenities. The cal-endars, which feature pin-up style shotsof local women, remain for sale atBungalow 26, 611 West Douglas.

The event featured hot rod cars andtrucks and vintage rock ‘n’ roll.

“This is the first car I ever bought,”said Bruce Long, who was buffing thechrome of his ‘57 Chevy. “I’ve had itsince high school. It’s gotten older, andso have I.”

About 6,500 people turned out forthe “Rumble” and organizers werepleased with the crowds.

“It was hot,” said Metzinger, “butdespite the hot weather everyone stillcame and that was cool.”

Rumble in Delano ushers in summer with gleaming chrome & sunshine.

TY NIGHSWONGER

MARCE BEELERMARCE BEELER

MARCE BEELER

BARRY OWENS

Last month in Delano, the cars were hot but thekids were cool during the annual Rumble inDelano. The car show and hot rod culture eventincluded live rock ‘n’ roll, pin-up girls and a pom-padour contest. At left “Hellbound Henry” per-forms. At far left, pin-ups hit the stage. Below left:Police estimate that about 6,500 people turned outfor the event. Below: One sweet ride.

BY BARRY OWENS


REMEMBER THE LO-FOS?

BY JOE STUMPE

As the news of Dr. GeorgeTiller’s slaying spread throughWichita, the usual reaction to suchevents—grief, anger, resignation—didn’t suffice for some residents.

Instead, they came together. InDowntown’s Old Town Square, acrowd of 400 to 500 people gatheredon a Sunday night, just 10 hours afterTiller was allegedly gunned down inchurch by an anti-abortion extremist.

Some eulogized Tiller, whoseclinic is one of the few that performlate-term abortions. Some vowed tocontinue the political and legal battleover abortion. Some wanted thenation to know, via the media, thatWichita is more diverse than the“conservative” label usually appliedto it.

“Thank you for giving us thechoice,” one woman said of Tiller.

“This is not us,” a young mansaid. “We’re better than this.”

Jean Spurney had jumped in hercar and driven over two hours fromBelleville to attend the vigil.

“I was sick through and through,”the retired nurse said of her reactionto Tiller’s murder. “We’ve been terri-fied for him for years.”

Indeed, Tiller had put Wichitasquarely in the center of the debateover abortion for decades. Even athis vigil, a dozen anti-abortion pro-testers gathered across the street tocarry signs and shout that hedeserved to die.

Perhaps with them in mind, RabbiMoti Rieber prayed that Tiller’sopponents know “that God is not agod of hatred and violence, but is agod of love.”

After the speakers, people at thevigil lit candles, held hands andsang.

The vigil had been organized viaa Twitter message sent out by 20-year-old Dustin Deckard. It was, bymost accounts, the biggest gatheringof its kind that anyone could remem-ber Downtown.

Deckard said he picked the loca-tion because it offered both spaceand intimacy, and was accessible topeople on foot. In a sense, the gath-ering seemed to inaugurate a newpublic space in the city.

But that, of course, was second-ary to outpouring of emotion forTiller, who was to be laid to rest asthis issue of the Downtowner wasgoing to press.

The media, mourners and activists gather in Old Town Square during a vigil for Dr. George Tiller,who was gunned down last month, allegedly by an anti-abortion extremist.

Tiller Vigil Draws Hundreds toDowntown’s Old Town Square

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BY BARRY OWENS

Last month, as the artist DaveQuick was preparing for the opening ofhis show “Keeping the Beat in TheseTough Times,” a collection of photocombinations, he invited a visitor overto his comfortably cluttered Riversidehome, where the works were framedand ready for packing in his livingroom and his two cats, Frankie BlueEyes and Lucky roamed free amongthe stacks of Beat literature and artbooks.

He was explaining how WilliamBurroughs, whom he met during aphoto project, had inspired his “cut up”method—the splicing of two or moreworks together to make a new work—and how serendipity plays a part in theselection, and sometimes in the takingof photographs.

“I think that I am quite good at put-ting myself in a position of being opento and receptive of serendipity,” he wassaying, when just then one of the cats,Lucky, nudged at the visitor’s elbow.

“Look at that,” Quick laughed, andproduced a digital camera seeminglyout of nowhere and got the shot. “Youcame over to interview me and nowLucky is interviewing you,” he said.He looked at the photo in the viewfinder and seemed pleased. “Now

you’re in the show.”Was it art? Who

knows. But so it goeswith Quick, who snapsphotos first and asksquestions later. Often,he’ll find another photoin his collection andpair the two together tocomplete the work.

Once a purist knownfor making handsomeand painstaking printsin his own darkroom,Quick became enth-ralled a few years backwith the Russian Lomo,a spy camera. He woreit out taking shots of thepeople, places and things around him.He now packs a Nikon digital camera,slimmer than a pack of cigarettes. Theprints are made at Walgreens.

He shoots ordinary people he findson porches or in parking lots and thecity spaces in between. “Just us,” hecalls his subjects. “At least half thepeople involved in this, I don’t knowwho the hell they are. They are justpeople I’ve bumped into. In manycases we’ve never had a conversation,”he said.

The show features a number of

works with strangers as subjects, juxta-posed with strange details.

Independence Day, for example,combines two photographs taken dur-ing a recent July 4th celebration at theKeeper of the Plains. The top photoshows a young man, who Quick does

not know but calls“Kurt Cobain”because of thesubject’s likenessto the late grungesinger. “Cobain” iswearing a t-shirtemblazoned withthe American flag.The photo posi-tioned below thatis a detail shot ofthe American flagplaque on thenearby VietnamWar Memorial,which is embla-zoned with thePledge of Alleg-

iance in print and in braille.Taken one by one, they seem unre-

markable at first—the sort of photo-graphs hastily snapped among dozensof others during a vacation trip. Butframed together they are suggestive ofsomething more—unabashed, blindpatriotism, perhaps.

Not that Quick necessarily had thatin mind at the time, or even now.

“I think that part of the artist’s per-sonality is that you don’t even knowyou are doing it,” he said. “It just hap-pens.”

Another is The Rogue, in which

we see a wolf-like dog descendinginto a drainage ditch near 21st Streetand eyeing the viewer with a wari-ness. Framed below, is a detail of thegraffiti that Quick was in the canalshooting at the time.

“That little sucker came rightover the hill, right at me,” Quicksaid. “I thought I was going to getbit.”

Coupled with the gang graffiti,the anxiety in the piece is palpable.

Some are harder to figure, likethe photo of the boy holding astuffed swordfish coupled with aphoto of an old dance hall.

“I’m not good at talking aboutthem,” Quick says, and then sums itup nicely.

It is about timeless grace, heexplains.

“If you took the sneakers awayand the soccer shirt, and you just putold fashioned Keds on him, that kidcould have been walking aroundwith that same fish in 1952 or 1932.He was just having fun, carting itaround.

And I see life very much likethis: if you are successful in life,your are a dancer. If you are movingthrough it with some sort of grace,then you are a dancer. I think that isthe connection.”

Quick’s show opened May 29 atBlank Page Gallery, 917 W.Douglas, and runs through thismonth. At the opening reception,Quick, always on the look out,moved through the gallery with acamera in his pocket.

juxtapositionsSense & serendipity: the art of Dave Quick

The Rogue, by Dave Quick Independence Day, by Dave Quick

ARTS

Dave Quick juxtaposes photo prints.

BY BARRY OWENS

The delivery was late, about anhour, and for the first 15 minutes orso the workers out on the streetawaiting the package killed time withcups of coffee and small talk with thelocal UPS guy.

“What are you guys putting uphere?” the driver asked.

“A flower,” said David Murano,who along with Kim Lister, both ofCity Arts, had prepared the base andwere awaiting the 16-foot sculptureand its creator, artist Greg Johnson.The sculpture was the final of fiveinstalled last month as part of the“Sculpture WalkAbout,” a city fund-ed public art project. The sculptures,installed along Mosley Streetbetween Douglas and Second, willremain there for a year. New oneswill be selected to replace them nextyear.

Johnson’s sculpture is a 16-foottall flower created out of parts sal-vaged from an Opal GT, and installedin front of the Old Town BanquetHall. When the wind blows, it spins,appearing to turn its pedals to the

sun.“Oh, a flower” said the UPS guy.

“I was hoping it was going to be anaked woman.”

Finally, the flower arrived on aflat bed trailer. Johnson hopped outof the truck and started taking meas-

urements. “We’re going to need exactly 11

feet,” he explained to the driver, whothen expertly wheeled the trailer intoposition.

Johnson, who is owner of GregJohnson Sculpture, a division of AutoBody Complex on nearby KansasStreet, and his crew then donned rub-ber gloves to prevent damage to thepainted stem, and began to lift.

“Here’s your Iwo Jima moment,”Lister said, as the men shouldered theflower into place like a flagpole.

The entire installation took onlyminutes. Still, there was the matter ofwhether or not it would spin in thebreeze. Johnson had built it on thefloor of his shop, unmounted to thespindle. Johnson reached underneaththe base of the flower with a wrench,then stepped back and instructed hiscrew to give it a whirl.

It spun a slow, graceful 180-degrees.

“Look at that,” Johnson said, nowstanding well back to take in hissculpture in full against the backdropof Old Town. “It works.”


SPECIAL DELIVERY

ARTS

ON MOSLEY STREET IN OLD TOWN, A FLOWER IS PLANTED BY FORCE

PHOTOS: BARRY OWENS

Artist Greg Johnson, shown (at right) in photo atleft, installs a flower sculpture last month in OldTown as part of the “Sculpture WalkAbout” project.

Untitled vessel #204-01, by Conrad Snider.

In Bloom, by Abby Murray.

Stainless Column, by Ed Pogue.

In the Face of Opposition, by Ted Krone.

12 THE DOWNTOWNER z JUNE 2009HISTORY

Clothing, Jewelry, Gifts, & Accessories for you and your home.

Mon- Thur 10am- 9pm, Fri & Sat 10am-11pm, Sunday 12pm- 6pm

329 N. Mead (in Old Town Square) 264-1080

The Night the Lights Went OnBY BARRY OWENS

It is not difficult today to imagine adarkened Downtown Main Street.There is light, but not much life in

the first few hundred blocks of thestreet after dusk. But there was a timewhen Main Street at Douglas was theheart of the city’s commercial district,and retailers and pedestrians wentabout their evening business in thegloom of the gas lamps.

It is little wonder that so muchfuss was made on July 2, 1907 when

a switch was thrown and electriclights illuminated a Wichita city streetfor the first time.

“North Main Street Ablaze,” theheadline read in the next morning’sedition of the Wichita Eagle.

Many thousands of people, thepaper reported, turned out to view thespectacle. A souvenir postcard wasissued [shown above] heralding thestrip as Wichita’s “Great White Way.”

Merchants from South Main andaround the corner on Douglas werereported to immediately inquire about

similar installations.Furniture store owner George T.

Nolley, and the druggist HarryDockum are credited with bringingthe lights to the 100 block of NorthMain. Of course, it was H. Almertwith the local electric light companythat sold them on the idea of betterilluminating the sidewalk and theirstorefronts.

So eager were the merchants forthe new technology that the lightswere strung hastily and turned onbefore the shades were installed.

“Some of the lights hang lowerthan others and a few are placed so asto give an effect similar to teeth out ofa saw,” the Eagle reported. “Thelights will be adjusted so as to bringthem even and it is thought that themerchants can be persuaded to placethe arcs equal distances apart insteadof at present.”

Still, the effect was apparentlydazzling.

“One could see to read a newspa-per even while standing in the centerof the street,” the Eagle noted.

POSTCARD COURTESY OF JEFF ROTH

A souvenir postcard from 1907 shows Main Street, looking south toward Douglas, ablaze in electric lights—Wichita’s version of the “Great White Way.” The lightswere turned on July 2, 1907. Thousands of people, according to press accounts, turned out to view the spectacle.

Downtown’s Main Street was the first in the city to glow with electric lights.


The roof garden atop the Shirkmere Apartment Hotel, as depicted in early promotional material.

HISTORY

Editor’s note: This article original-ly appeared in the May issue of TheDowntowner. Due to an editing error,the final sentence was cut off. We apol-ogize for the error. The story is reprint-ed here, in its entirety.

BY BARRY OWENS

It was supposed to be the last word inresidential hotel construction. And itwas a beauty. But today, the

Shirkmere Apartments seemed to havelost a bit of their appeal. While allaround new lofts and apartments aregoing up, there remain vacancies at theold hotel.

Built by Oscar Shirk at a cost of $1million, the building housed 105 apart-ments, at least as many Murphy beds, asprawling penthouse and garden atopthe building and an elegant ballroom onthe ground floor. Shirk, who also devel-oped the Eaton and Topeka hotels, wasso enamored with the place he took upresidence in the penthouse.

The building opened to much fan-fare in April of 1924. It made all thepapers.

“It is doubtful if a very large numberof Wichitans really know the grandeurand magnificence of the ShirkmereApartments. No man or woman canrealize what Wichita possesses in theway of a family hotel until they havegone through the new building,” theEagle reported in preview of the open-ing.

That description holds up eventoday. Downtown as a whole may beenjoying a rebirth as residents moveinto new lofts and old buildings freshlyconverted to residences, but theShirkmere seems to stand alone.Unloved. Hardly heralded. Rented outcheap.

That seems a shame as the building,though showing wear and tear, has heldup well over the years. The ballroomstill sparkles. The Murphy beds stillswing out from the closets, the elevatorstill goes to the penthouse if you have akey. But it is clear that the old building,at Second and Topeka, is not the glam-

orous address that it once was.When it went up on the corner it was

the finest, tallest, most luxurious resi-dential hotel in the city. The structurewas designed by architects HarryWeaver and John Eberson, who also arecredited with the Orpheum theater andYork Rite Masonic Temple, amongother local treasures.

The building was constructed ofbrick, granite, steel and terra cotta. Itwas no cheap facade.

“All the materials in it are true totheir natures. There is no make believe,no camouflage. Every piece of graniteand every brick is doing a healthy day’swork by its resistance to the load it car-ries,” a critic raved in the Eagle.

Inside, no convenience was spared.Each unit held an ice box, cooled by acentral plant in the building. An inciner-ator, which can still be seen mounted onthe back of the building today, eliminat-ed the need for garbage cans. TheMurphy beds eliminated the need for abedroom, thus making more room toentertain.

Aside from the ballroom, an elabo-rately decked out space said to be the“finest this side of Chicago,” the groundfloor held separate lounges for men andwoman and boasted a huge marble fire-place and draperies apparently so fine,an expert was invited to comment onthe quality for a newspaper article.

“There is a note of welcome in thehangings, a suggestion that seems toinvite one to sit down and rest,” heoffered. “The lobby proper is draped inbeautiful gold mohair, a color whichlends itself to balance with the beautifultile floor, and balances with the colortone of the walls, while forming a back-ground for the furniture.”

Today, the ground floor lobby is car-peted. The lighting is dim. There is aPepsi machine. The old clock on thewall doesn’t tick. But the woodwork isstill fine. The ceiling is still high. Theplace has good bones and a shabby sortof grandeur, which as the critic oncesaid, cannot be faked.

The Old HotelThe view, then and now, of the Shirkmere

S E N D C O P I E S

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Call 689-8474 for details.



Ask anyone, it is our dedicated staff that makes the difference.MEET OUR EXPERT, LONG TERM STAFF

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Rain and a swollen river hampered some eventsduring last month’s River Festival, but it didn’tdampen the spirits at the Block Party. As tornadosirens roared and thunder clapped, festival goerssimply moved the party downstairs at Century II.Admiral Windwagon Smith, a veteran of stormy fes-tivals, was prescient enough to pack a rain coat.

Photos byKATIE GORDON

Rain Fest

n EEXXHHIIBBIITTIIOONNSS

g 6/26, 6-8pm: Mid-America All-IndianCenter Grand Reopening A celebrationof the museum’s reopening. Live drum-ming, traditional storytelling, and refresh-ments will be provided. Tours of themuseum and facility will also be avail-able. A special exhibit of works by youngNative American artist, Taiomah Rutledgewill also be on display. Free. Mid-AmericaAll-Indian Center, 650 N. Seneca, 350-3340.

g 6/26-6-21: Captured by the LightPhoto paintings by Kathy Besthorn.Opening reception 6/26, 6-10pm. MurilloStudio, 119 N. Mead.

n TTHHEEAATTEERR

g To 6/18, 6pm: Thoroughly ModernMennonite Crooks infiltrate a Mennonitevillage. With dinner: $26 adults, $22 sen-iors, $20 children. Show only, $16. MosleyStreet Melodrama, 234 N. Mosley. Forreservations: 263-0222.

g To 6/13, 8pm: The Andrews BrothersNostalgic tribute to the music of the WorldWar II era. Performances Thu, Fri, Satnights. $19. Cabaret Old Town, 412 1/2 E.Douglas. For tickets: 265-4400.

g 6/10-6/14, 8pm: The ProducersScheming producer discovers he can makemore money with a Broadway bomb than ahit. Century II Concert Hall. Music Theatreof Wichita production. For tickets: 265-3107.

g 6/24-6/28, 8pm: Camelot The story ofthe marriage of England's King Arthur toGuinevere is played out amid thepageantry of Camelot. Century II ConcertHall. Music Theatre of Wichita production.For tickets: 265-3107.

g 6/27-8/22, 8pm: Jukebox: One HitWonders A look back at the hits of the‘60s and ‘70s. Performances Thu, Fri, Satnights. $19. Cabaret Old Town, 412 1/2 E.Douglas. For tickets: 265-4400.

n TTAALLKKSS,, EETTCC..

g 6/16, 6pm: Celebrity & Chef CookoffCooking challenge between chefs andcelebrities. Prizes, silent auction, live auc-tion, and more. To be held at the WichitaMarriott Hotel. Tickets: $60. Orpheum,200 N. Broadway, 263-0884, wichitaor-pheum.com

g 6/10, 17, 24, 7: 30pm: Blank Verse OpenMic Open mic for readings. Suggested dona-tion: $3. Blank Page, 917 W. Douglas.

g 6/27, 7pm: Evening on the Bayou Livemusic, Cajun food, live and silent auc-tions. Fundraiser for Communities inSchools. Tickets: $100. Order by phone:973-5110. Farm & Art Market Plaza, 835E. First.

n CCOONNCCEERRTTSS

g 6/8, 8pm: Bodo Big Band GuitaristCraig Owens and ensemble perform.Suggested donation: $2. Blank Page,917 W. Douglas.

g 6/9, 7:30pm: Cabaret 2009 an evening

of pop, jazz, show tunes, free appetizers.Fundraiser for Wichita Chamber Chorale.$25. Cabaret Old Town, 412 1/2 E.Douglas. For tickets: 267-2796

g 6/11, 5/25, 8pm: Chamber Mus-ic/Opera Series Suggested donation:$2. Blank Page, 917 W. Douglas.

g 6/15-6/18, 3pm: Pipes on thePlains Organist Brett Valliant & theWichita Wurlitzer in Exhibition Hall.Donations accepted at door. Century IIExhibition Hall.

g 6/11, 5/25, 8pm: ChamberMusic/Opera Series Suggested dona-tion: $2. Blank Page, 917 W. Douglas.

g To 6/13, 8pm: The Andrews BrothersNostalgic tribute to the music of theWorld War II era. Performances Thu-Satnights. $19. Cabaret Old Town, 412 1/2 E.Douglas. For tickets: 265-4400.

g 6/28, 2pm: Soul of a PeopleCelebration of WPA era writers.Followed by ice cream social. Free.Wichita-Sedgwick County HistoricalMuseum.

n SSCCRREEEENNIINNGGSS

g 6/8, after dark: The Dirty Dozen A USArmy Major is assigned a dozen convictedmurderers to train and lead them into amass assassination mission of Germanofficers in World War II. Free. TheVagabond, 614 W Douglas.

g 6/9, 7:30pm: Minnie & Moskowitz Amuseum curator falls in love with a crazyparking attendant. Directed by John Cass-avetes. Blank Page, 917 W. Douglas.

g 6/11, 8pm: Terminator Cyborg travelsback in time and goes on killing spree.Free. The Brickyard, 129 N. Rock Island.

g 6/11, after dark: Best in Show A color-ful array of characters competes at anational dog show. Free. The Vagabond,614 W Douglas.

g 6/18, 7pm: The Muppet Movie Kermitis persuaded to pursue a career in Holly-wood. $5. Orpheum, 200 N. Broadway,263-0884, wichitaorpheum.com.

g 6/19, 7:30pm: Easy Rider Hippies setoff across America on their motorcycles.$5. Orpheum, 200 N. Broadway, 263-0884, wichitaorpheum.com.

g 6/25, 8pm: Thelma & Louise Friendshit the open road and get more than theybargained for. Free. The Brickyard, 129 N.Rock Island.

15THE DOWNTOWNER z JUNE 2009 LISTINGS

n EXHIBITIONS Vanishing Point, works by Derek Miller, is on view through June 5 at Go Away Garage, 508 S. Commerce Street. Milleruses toy cars, like Hot Wheels “but knock offs” to create his works. “I am using this symbol because it is one of those things that isglobally recognized,” he said of the cars. “Someone from Timbuktu, or Mexico, or Los Angeles can read into it. Each culture is differ-ent and each person uses a car maybe in a different way, but they are going to have some familiarity with it,” he said.

To have your event listed, email the detailsto [email protected], orcall 689-8474.

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