WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - A Wichita business owner says a historic downtown building has gone from an eyesore to a problem, calling on city leaders and property owners to do something about it.
"At some point, private ownership becomes a public nuisance, and then you have to address it," said Dr. Allyson Bell with New Hope Therapy.
Her business sits right next to The Commodore on Broadway, and it's been there since January.
She says her business moved from a block down from Market St., and she wasn't expecting to experience such a different atmosphere just a street away.
"We've had to call the police probably two to three times a week. If I'm here on the weekends, it's even more than that," said Bell. "I feel like I'm abusing the 911 system at this point because I'm having to call so often"
The Wichita Police Department says it has responded 54 times to her property since the beginning of the year -- 30 of those responses were initiated by a 911 call.
Bell -- and other neighbors in the area -- point to The Commodore, a historic and formerly beautiful hotel that now sits vacant, as a problem.
She says she's constantly picking up trash, dealing with broken glass, and asking people to leave. Bell recounts an experience with someone having a Bowie knife, being trapped in her car and threatened, a woman urinating on the property and exposing themselves to employees, and more.
A walk around the property shows a building in disrepair, outlined with human waste and trash littered on the ground. All of this neighbors Bell's therapy service, which largely focuses on caring for children.
She says she's tried to get in contact with The Commodore's property owners for months.
"I've had no communication from them. I've tried emailing. I found their website. They have emails on their website. I've tried communicating with them that route of just, hey, how can I be a neighbor for you? How can we be helpful? I know you do not live here. I do, though, and your building is impacting my business," said Bell.
Documents posted on the door of the old building show the owners aren't based in Kansas. The company's portfolio spans several states, but is based in southern California.
"I refused to be run out of my own neighborhood by careless California business owners," said Bell.
The city says income is driven by the cell phone towers on top of the building.
The maximum fine, the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department says, is $3,500.
In a city council workshop on Tuesday, council member Maggie Ballard referenced hundreds of thousands of dollars being made off of those towers.
"The fact that there's electricity in the building is what we feel makes it extra attractive to the population," said Chris Labrum, Director of the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department.
Bell shares a notice of pending abatement on the door.
"We have now boarded, done an emergency board-up ourselves, secured the building the best we could," said Labrum. "I sent the order to Evergy to disconnect the power."
Maggie Ballard said she hopes the lack of power brings in some attention from the owners.
It's those owners that Bell says she still simply wants to have a conversation with, to move a needle forward.
"I do think that Broadway is going to be an important medical corridor, and I want to be sure that I am down there," said Bell.
KAKE News called the phone number listed for the property. The call was not returned.