GARDEN CITY, Kan. (KSNW) — The Windsor Hotel in Garden City just lost a fundraising source for its restoration.
“It was taking away from our goal, our mission, which is to continue moving forward with the preservation of the Windsor Hotel and giving it our full attention,” said Kimberly Nading of the Finney County Preservation Alliance.
The gift shop served as a fundraiser for the Alliance, which owns and is restoring the Windsor.
They say other funding sources like grants and donations will keep restorations going, like repairs to the cupola and, next, the roof.
“It is off the ground and full tilt running,” said Nading. “If you drive down Main Street, you will see a lot of activity going on around that cupola.”
There’s no end in sight. Fully restoring the hotel will take years and likely millions of dollars.
“It’s been about 20 years in the making,” said Nading. “It’s been a long road but we’ve been around for a long time, and we still continue going forward.”
In the meantime, the Preservation Alliance wants to convert the ground floor into retail space.
They’re especially interested in having a micro-brewery, decorated in the style of the late 1800s, when the hotel was first built. Even that is about two years away.
“There’s just so much potential with what you can do with that space,” said Myca Bunch of Garden City Downtown Vision, “and then mixing in the historical integrity of it would be a dream thing to see come to fruition.”
As downtown grows, the unused space is becoming even more noticeable.
“It’s a great, iconic landscape for our community,” said Bunch, “and I’m pretty sure our community and residents of Finney County just want to see something great happen with it.”
There’s no long-term plan for what the hotel will eventually become, but developers have pitched plans ranging from apartments to studio spaces for artists.
