GARDEN CITY, Kan.-
A 19th century hotel that sits vacant in the city’s center has caught the imagination of a Colorado developer eager to restore the building to its former grandeur.
Work on renovating the Windsor Hotel could begin by the end of the year, Tom Klein, of Denver-based New Communities Ltd., said this week at the annual meeting of the Finney County Preservation Alliance.
Klein’s announcement prompted cheers and applause from Alliance members who worked to keep the hotel in good structural condition while it sat vacant.
When it opened in 1889, the Windsor was considered the best hotel between Kansas City, Mo., and Denver, earning it renown as the “Waldorf of the Prairies.”
In 1972, the four-story building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. But it had deteriorated over time and in 1977 the three upper floors, by then a home for elderly people, were closed on orders of the state fire marshal. A furniture store operated in the ground floor area, but it moved to another site in 2004.
Members of the Alliance never gave up on reviving the old hotel. They raised money in 1995 for a study on the building’s condition and the feasibility of renovating it.
Klein got involved with the project after receiving a phone call from developer Rick Kready, of Pioneer Group Inc. in Topeka. He first visited the Windsor in January 2006, not knowing what to expect but thinking he’d find a little, rundown building.
But he was amazed by its “remarkable condition” and saw it as a cornerstone of development for Garden City.
The $10.5 million proposal that Klein presented calls for installing 62 to 65 guest rooms on the three upper floors, around the building’s atrium, with a restaurant on the ground floor.
Financing would come from the private sector, in part through a program aimed at helping refurbish structures on the National Register of Historic Places that grants investors federal and state income tax credits.
“We’re really proud to have some guys involved with the expertise these ones do have,” said Alliance president Don Harness. “That kind of assures us it will happen.”
Klein has done similar work in cities of comparable size. In Cheyenne, Wyo., he led the $5 million renovation of the Plains hotel, which helped attract retail and housing projects.
He also helped renovate the Market Lofts in downtown Denver.
In Garden City, Klein said, the goal of the project was to contribute to the revitalization of downtown and add a little “nightlife” to the area by bringing in another downtown restaurant.
“We’ve got a lot of work, but we think we’re gonna get there,” Klein said.
