Boulevard Plaza

The Boulevard Plaza in Wichita is a sad reality of what has happened to shopping centers across the Midwest for decades. But before it became what it is now, read any comments about the Boulevard Plaza and you’ll see that it was once the place to go. J.W. Womer and R.W. Womer were the founders of a new shopping center named idea. They hired S.S. Platt as the architect who made a handful of buildings

The grand opening of the plaza in 1951 was a large gala that had thousands of people show up. The businesses of the shopping center were as follows: Boulevard Appliance, Walters Shoe Repair, Boulevard Plaza Barber Shop, Heads Shoes, Plaza Interiors, A.L. Duckwall Stores, Hawk’s Pharmacy, Krogers, Judy’s, Boulevard Cleaners, McVicar’s, Dowaynes Beauty Salon, Murray’s W.W. Virtue, Lawrence Camera Shop, and the Boulevard Plaza Medical Arts Center.

About a year after opening burglars hit the center making off with $2,087.38. Heads Shoes and Murrays were the only places the thieves made out with money but Dewaynes Beauty Salon, Plaza Interiors and McVicars were also broken into.

Another heist happened in 1957, but this time the Boulevard Plaza shops were prepared. Merchants worked with police to trap two alleged bogus check artists who were wanted in Sedgwick County and others for different check law violations. William Cornell and Mary Cythenia were held in the jail on charges of vagrancy and suspicion of violating state check laws.

Yet again the area seemed to be plagued by break-ins. Thieves hit the Boulevard Plaza Medical Arts Center in December 1958. Burglars raided the offices of more than sixteen doctors at the center. The amount of loot they made out with was undetermined but thought to be small in monetary value. The thieves scatted papers and pried open cabinets but none of the doctors reported losses of narcotics.

But with the bad comes good as well, many many people over the next fifty-plus years would make traditions, memories and successes here. Lisa Quinn remembers every Saturday walking to the Plaza, “Loved it, every Saturday I walked there to spend my allowance. I would then go to the library to choose three books. That was the max I could check out. I found that so unfair. Then I would go to Peter Pan for a 5-cent cone to eat while walking back home.”

But around 2019 the Boulevard Plaza shuttered its door. How did a place as popular as this end up in this state of neglect? According to the locals they all have their own opinions on the decline of the shopping center. One said, “The landlord has let the place deteriorate, he allowed pipes to freeze and flood the few businesses that were there, forcing them to move out. He doesn’t fix the parking lots or roadways, full of potholes.” Another said, “The sad reality is that the small local shops we love and remember mainly wither and die because there are not enough patrons to keep them afloat. These small local shops usually cannot compete with online shops and/or giant retailers’ purchasing power and exclusive deals. Frankly, there is a tremendous benefit to supporting small shops and keeping our money in our own communities. But this just doesn’t seem to be the trend. Sad, but true.”

Some residents have ideas for reopening the Plaza as a destination for drinking and dining, with bars and bistros, outdoor seating, and music filling the air. But could it ever happen? Unfortunately, work seemed to be happening around 2022 on some of the shops but according to the pictures below a stop work order was placed on the building due to not having a work permit. Locals said, “It was bought about a year ago and the man was trying to fix it up but vandals were breaking out the new windows he just installed.”

In March 2023 the three outer buildings of Boulevard Plaza went up for auction. This included a warehouse, the Boulevard Plaza Medical Arts Center, Dollar General and the Net Systems Buildings.

Gallery Below of Boulevard Plaza and Boulevard Medical Arts Center

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