The Garvey Center
Big shout out to one of my newest favorite follows “Veloace” on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok. He’s dropping knowledge on Wichita and is the inspiration for this post as we continue our look at the skyline of Wichita.
We kicked it off with an overall history of our skyline last year and now we’ll make our way across building by building.
Today we will highlight the Garvey Center aka 250 Douglas Place.
The History
The Garvey Center aka 250 Douglas Place (originally named the Holiday Inn Wichita-Plaza) is a 300 ft, 26 story tall building located in downtown Wichita that was completed in 1969. It once stood as a hotel with 284 room as well as a “Penthouse Club” on the 25th floor. In 1987, it left the Holiday Inn system and became an independent hotel.
As of 2021, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a representative of the private development and part of the urban renewal program in the 1950s-60s.
It is a standout in the Wichita skyline due to the color of the windows, the shape, and the GARVEY CENTER name at the top. Oh, and it is tall.
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The Garvey Center was the tallest building in Wichita (and Kansas) from completion in 1969 to 1987 until the Epic Center dethroned it. The Garvey Center still holds the record for most number of floors in Kansas and it is still the 2nd tallest building in the state.
This historic building sits between the R.H. Garvey Building and the Olive W Garvey building which each stand 10 stories tall. To be clear, the 5 modern concrete and glass buildings along with the urban plaza combine to form a 4+ acre “urban complex”. The “Garvey Center building” is one piece of something bigger.
Clearly the Garvey family made an impact on Wichita.
The Garvey Family
There are several names that invoke a sense of respect for their accomplishments and contributions to Wichita. The Garvey name is one of those.
Ray Hugh and Olive White Garvey moved to Wichita in the 1920s with their kids Ruth, Willard, James, and Olivia.
They were involved in farming before expanding to grain storage, petroleum, construction, residential properties and more. At one point they even owned the entire 200 blog of West Douglas in Downtown Wichita.
This was a family business with all of the Ray and Olive’s kids getting involved in various aspects.
As you can see, the Garvey empire was / is truly a family endeavor with the great grandson, Nicholas Bonavia, of the OGs running the show since 2014. Bonavia Properties is a prime investor in Wichita and its development.
Honestly, the Garvey family deserve a whole deep dive on their own and I’ll have to do that at some point.
The Dark Side of History
The history of the Garvey Center is not without its darker chapters.
On August 11, 1976, an unemployed welder named Michael Soles set up a sniper position on the building’s roof (back when it was the Holiday Inn Plaza).
Over an eleven-minute shooting spree, he killed three people and wounded six others before being wounded by police and taken into custody.
250 Douglas Place
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Fast forward to 2023, you can live, work, and play at the Garvey Center.
You can find commercial space, office space, retail space, restaurants, an events venue, and residential properties like 250 Douglas Place.
250 Douglas Place offers an upscale, modern feel in high-rise apartments downtown. The sky-rise apartments overlooking Wichita range from 600 to 1,000 square feet and offer amenities such as key access, gated access, indoor reserved parking, on-site laundry, free fitness center, and more.
Their renovated 6th Floor rooftop recreation deck features:
- 2 outdoor kitchen pagodas
- rooftop swimming pool
- basketball court
- driving range & putting green
- and the only rooftop pickleball court in Wichita (see the above picture)
Fun Facts
You can also find Open Studios with local art at three Kiva area art galleries year round or see public art out and around the area.
The Garvey Center makes an appearance in the 1976 Wichita cult classic film King Kung Fu (which deserves a whole deep dive on its own).
