Is Century II historic, or is it just old?

Is the Century II Convention and Performing Arts Center building historic, or is it just old?

That question is now at the center of a battle raging over the future of Century II.

Historic preservationists, modern architecture advocates and community activists say there’s no question: Century II is a jewel.

But a coalition of downtown booster organizations, an architect hired by the coalition and at least one Wichita City Council member question its historic significance. They say it’s standing in the way of progress.

“That’s where I think there’s a disconnect,” Mayor Brandon Whipple said. “Because historic and old aren’t necessarily synonymous.”

“You have to look at the importance of the building — the architect, the history, and the memories people have in that building. Those are the things that make a building special, and those are the things that are going to take a lot of thought (as we make a decision),” he said.

Century II’s future is in jeopardy because the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan calls for it to be razed in the next five to 10 years, clearing room for a park and mixed-use buildings along Douglas Avenue.

The plan was developed by a coalition that includes private and quasi-public organizations Downtown Wichita, Greater Wichita Partnership, Visit Wichita, Wichita Community Foundation and Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce’s young professionals. The booster coalition will eventually ask the city to adopt the plan.

But supporters of Century II aren’t waiting around for the council to make a decision. They’ve started a ballot initiative petition that would prevent the city from tearing down Century II — or any historically significant building — without a public vote.

Celeste Racette, whose father was a City Council member and mayor in the 1960s when Century II was developed, feels so strongly about the building that she applied last week to have it added to the National Register of Historic Places. That process is expected to take at least four and a half months.

With its circular shape and blue-colored roof, Century II has served as the city’s community auditorium, performing arts and convention center since 1969. The architects who designed it — John Hickman and Roy Varenhorst — were apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright, the most distinguished American architect of the 20th Century.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation was involved in the first phase of Century II’s design. Its shape, color and dimensions are similar to a Wright-designed building that was planned — but ultimately scrapped because of state budget problems — at Wichita State University. It closely resembles the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California, both designed by Wright.

Although Wright was dead before Century II was commissioned, evidence shows his influence on the project. But his importance to the project has been called into question by people involved with the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan.

“Everybody keeps saying it was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright,” said Amber Luther of Populous, whose design for the east bank would tears down Century II. “Well, there were a lot of students of Frank Lloyd Wright. It wasn’t designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, so this is kind of where I struggle with is it historic or isn’t it.”

City Council member Brandon Johnson, the city’s representative on the Riverfront committee, also downplayed Wright’s role during a recent television appearance.

“I used to play football, and I actually trained with Barry Sanders’s brother, but I was no Barry Sanders,” Johnson said. “So to me it’s different. You have Frank Lloyd Wright — wonderful architect — but students are students. They take their own teaching and they put their own spin on it.”

Johnson stood by his comments Friday.

“While there have been notable events, performances, and experiences in this facility; I would not classify it as a historic structure,” he said in an email to The Eagle.

Some experts disagree.

“It absolutely is,” said Vance Kelley, a former chair of the National Trust Advisors for the National Historic Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit that protects and promotes historic places.

“Century II is one of the most architecturally significant structures in Kansas,” he said. “And the reality is that once a significant building is torn down, it’s gone forever.”

Robert McLaughlin with KC Modern, a Kansas City-based nonprofit that advocates for Modern architecture, said he thinks it’s a mistake to tear down Century II.

“It’s about as historic as it gets in Wichita,” he said.

Real limitations

Century II presents a number of challenges for the groups that use the facility, and to solve the problems area boosters recommend building new instead of renovating.

Wayne Bryan, artistic director of Music Theatre Wichita, has spent as much time as anyone in Century II. For the past 32 years, he estimates he has spent 50 to 80 hours a week there.

He said Century II has its limitations — from its pie shape to its loading dock — but it also has built-in advantages.

“We only exist because of this building,” Bryan said.

“I have enormous affection for this building. And in past years when somebody wanted to turn it into a casino, or they wanted to tear it down and build a new convention center, we have been very strong defending it and pointing out its uniqueness.”

Music Theatre Wichita, he said, is one of the few theaters in the country that can build its own scenery and costumes and host its own shows.

“So Wichita is one of the few cities where the local audiences get to see big, full-scale Broadway-size productions that are created in their community,” he said.

Century II attracted 474,912 visitors in 2018, the latest year available on the city’s annual reports, and 67,836 came to see Music Theatre Wichita. Visitor satisfaction with Century II has held steady for the past 15 years, with four out of five surveyed by the city ranking the experience “good” or “excellent” in 2018.

A new performing arts center is a top priority in the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan, which calls for a new center within three to five years. Bryan said that could be a good thing if the building addresses the issues in Century II and includes all of the features that make Music Theatre Wichita possible.

Vance Kelley, the former chair of the National Trust Advisors, said he thinks the current building could be brought up to industry standards at a reasonable price without building new. He said upgrading buildings such as Century II is just part of responsible ownership of a building.

“Buildings need to be upgraded through time, but that doesn’t mean it’s cost prohibitive. ... This is just the next round of investment that building needs to continue to function for multiple years.”

“Historic preservation projects do not have to cost more than new construction and oftentimes, because the cost of construction has gone up so much, when you build new, you can’t afford to build it at the same quality that they built the original building,” Kelley said.

Kelley is now head of historic preservation for TreanorHL Company, a large architectural firm that has worked on preservation and restoration projects including the Kansas Statehouse and San Francisco City Hall.

“All buildings — whether they’re 55 years old or 10 years old — have limitations. And those limitations aren’t necessarily a negative end of the facility. It just means what you do there is certainly influenced and impacted by the design,” Kelley said.

He said if the city were trying to preserve Century II, plans for renovating would start with preserving the elements that make it historically significant. From there, the approach would be to see how it could be upgraded to serve the public in the future, from technological updates to other repairs and arrangements within the building.

“I do know that it certainly can continue to function for its current uses,” Kelley said.

Bryan says whatever happens with Century II or a new performing arts center, several things should be addressed. Music Theatre and touring shows need a square or rectangular stage with more space backstage.

“Because of the shape of our stage, shows like Hamilton and the Phantom of the Opera cannot come to our theater,” Bryan said.

Also a problem is loading and unloading for shows, Bryan said.

“When Century II was launched, it had a wonderful philosophy that it would stand alone in a big open space, radiating out in 360 degrees to all of the community. ... So instead of having loading docks, they came up with a wonderfully inventive ramp that would go down gracefully into the basement and massive elevators that can bring trucks up to the stage level where things can be unloaded,” Bryan said.

But trucks were only 44 feet in 1969. Now, they’re 53 feet long and can’t make the curve into the basement, Bryan said. So they have to park in Kennedy Plaza and haul the equipment and set pieces across the building about 160 yards.

Producers of touring shows don’t like to do that, Bryan said.

“So, consequently, cities that are very comparable to us like Tulsa, Oklahoma City or Omaha, they get Phantom and they get Hamilton. And our people drive to see them in those cities.”

Bryan said he thinks Century II can’t be fixed with a renovation. As for efforts to save the building, he said “we’re not commenting on that.”

“If this is the only performing arts venue in Wichita that’s capable of having musical theater road shows and Music Theatre Wichita — which it is now and has been all this time — then, of course, we’ll continue (at Century II).”

Clarification: A previous version of this article said Wayne Bryan of Music Theatre Wichita would be happy to stay in Century II if it could be updated. That’s “the exact opposite of what we believe,” he told The Eagle Jan. 23.

“Music Theatre staff and board are convinced that Wichita requires and deserves a completely new performing arts facility,” he said in a letter.

This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 7:55 AM.