The Wellington Regent in the background has been adversely affected by road closing.

Commentary by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Lincoln Place fiasco needs to be wrapped up as soon as possible, and if it means the demolishing of a century old building, so be it.

Tracy “Cueball” McCue

The Wellington City Council has been more than patient with the owners of the embattled building on Lincoln and Washington after water flowed through the building on July 14, 2016 due to large amounts of precipitation. Since then the road has been closed because of the fear of building collapse. I’d venture to say if that building did fall down, drivers on Lincoln Street would not be the only ones in peril.

I’m not here to point fingers on what should have, or shouldn’t have been done to save this building, but the fact we are in the middle of January and the road is still closed for six months, is testimony that bureaucracy is live and well in Wellington, Kans. One can pass judgment on either the property owner, the insurance company, the Wellington City staff, or the city council — but it doesn’t matter. The problem is not solved.

To me it’s a problem when Wellington has a legitimate business such as the Regent Theater, whose whole dependency is on foot traffic, is hurt due to a situation that is not the fault of their own.

In the original article this week, someone had asked a legitimate question, “I’m sorry, but how hard is it to go around?”

My response is because people are people.

A few years back I ran a sports event photography service for which and the location of the booth meant everything. I would set up a table/tent for say a wrestling/basketball or swimming/baseball tournament selling posters of pictures of their darlings playing sports.

It was amazing the success of the outing was dependent on the location of the booth.

A few feet out of the way made all the difference in the world. People wouldn’t take the extra steps to come over and buy a photo or may not notice the booth all together. But if they just happened to walk by, some of them would stop almost on a whim and before long end up buying $100 worth of photos. It was essential to park my table or tent in the middle of everything to be successful.

The idea of the road block doesn’t seem like a lot, but it will keep some people away whether subconsciously or deliberately. It’s that thought, “oh I have to drive around.” It might be an “out of sight, out of mind” syndrome. It sounds ridiculous but it is those little things for a retailer that can sink a business.

There has been plenty of investment with the Wellington Regent – a venue in which local citizens, especially our youth, has a place to congregate and see the latest flicks. Few would argue that Regent manager Jerry Fike and a group of investors have done a great job of modernizing the facility – most notably the implementation of a digital projection, and providing more ample and spacious seating.

Just the thought that a movie like Star Wars – Rogue One which is set to come to Wellington this month, is reason enough to keep this business open.

So if it is our challenge to keep local businesses open and make the downtown uniquely Wellington, then we need to go the extra distance to make sure things like the Lincoln Place fiasco gets cleaned up or fixed in a timely manner.

I am not one of those who thinks buildings should be demolished. You must be very careful of tearing down Victorian structures that are rich in history. I’m still upset that a Victorian house was torn down at 224 South F in 2014 because a house like that is irreplaceable (see story here).

Also, the loss of the Antlers Hotel and the Santa Fe building were sad events in Wellington. I personally never saw those buildings in their heydays, but judging from old photographs, they appeared to be relics of unique architectur.

But I don’t see it with the Lincoln Place building. It looks like a book depository building. I would save the Masonic Lodge facade and other elements of the building worth preserving. But Wellington will not be a lesser place without it.

Just thinking outside the box, this could be an excellent opportunity for civic-minded leaders to use open space to construct a landmark that can tie the downtown business district with Washington and Lincoln. I know that local attorney Jack Potucek has been looking for a place to build a Vietnam Memorial. Perhaps, something like the proposed memorial would fit well at that location.

Or maybe a historical marker celebrating our life as the Wheat Capital of the World. There’s no doubt the area could use more greenery.

Granted, these are just simple thoughts coming off the top of my head. But what I’m saying is the future possibilities are endless in bringing more personality and flavor to the downtown.

Maybe, I’m wrong, and this is a building worth preserving and has a long future ahead. I’m OK with that.

But I’m not OK with the building and adjacent street in this current state.

This situation needs cleaned up and it needs to be cleaned up ASAP. Road barriers only need to be erected when there is something new and better coming down the pike – not because of human inactivity.

Wrap it up.

And in the meantime, go see a movie at the Regent. Buy some popcorn.

Follow us on Facebook.

Follow us on Twitter.