Wichita Spangles damaged by September fire is being rebuilt without Elvis and Marilyn
.JPG "Elvis will not be invited into the building when the Spangles at 47th and Broadway reopens.")
It was Sept. 6 when a fire started in the kitchen of the Spangles at 410 E 47th St. South, sending smoke through the entire restaurant.
More than four months have passed, and the restaurant has still not reopened. Some fans in the area are wondering if it will.
The overnight fire, which investigators determined started after oil- and grease-saturated rags were left in a plastic trash bin, caused $225,000 in damage, which was a total loss, said Wichita Fire Department Battalion Chief Jose Ocadiz.
Craig Steven, the Wichita-based chain’s co-founder, said the company is working on getting all the city permits needed to get the restaurant rebuilt and reopened. But it’s facing equipment delays, he said, and that Spangles likely won’t reopen for another two or three months.
Though the outside of the building appears undamaged, Steven said, the inside will have to be gutted down to the studs. That will give the chain a chance to build a more modern dining room, and this one won’t feature the Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley characters that the other Spangles do.
Instead, it will look like Spangles’ Emporia restaurant, where the decor does not include so much 1950s memorabilia.
“The generation now, they don’t relate to those people,” Steven said. “They don’t know who they are. So we’re kind of getting rid of all that.”
There are no plans, however, to evict Elvis and Marilyn from the Wichita stores where they already reside, Steven said.
I’ll keep you posted on an opening date.
This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 11:00 AM.
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