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National and State Registers of Historic Places

Commodore Apartment Hotel

Picture of property 222 E Elm Street / 601 N Broadway Avenue
Wichita (Sedgwick County)
Listed in National Register May 1, 2013

Architect: Peters, Nelle Elizabeth
Category: hotel; multiple dwelling
Thematic Nomination: Residential Resources of Wichita, Sedgwick County, KS, 1870-1957

The Commodore Apartment Hotel is located at the north end of Wichita's downtown commercial district. The rapid development of multiple-family housing in Wichita was essential in the 1920s, when the city's population nearly doubled. Local leaders attracted the attention of the Hurley-Park Investment Company of Tulsa, a partnership of Secretary of War Patrick J. Hurley and builder and realtor Robert R. Park. Soon Hurley-Park, which was simultaneously developing Tulsa's Ambassador Hotel, was making plans to build the Commodore Apartment Hotel. They hired Kansas City-based architect Nelle Elizabeth Peters, who specialized in apartment buildings and hotels, to design the Commodore Hotel. It was completed and opened in 1929. At nine stories, it is the tallest building in this part of downtown and is constructed of reinforced concrete with brick and terra cotta detailing reflecting the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The building is identified by a prominent rooftop sign that reads "COMMODORE." The building was nominated as part of the "Residential Resources of Wichita" multiple property nomination for its local significance in the area of architecture.



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