Overview
The Broadview Hotel dates back to 1922. Despite its classic appearance, it’s one of Wichita’s scariest locations. The hotel was the scene of a tragic murder/suicide when a guest named Clarence found out his wife was unfaithful. In desperation, Clarence killed his wife then jumped from the hotel balcony. Clarence is the most active of the spirits and makes his presence felt in many ways.
- Makes phone calls from guest rooms
- Makes crank calls to the front desk
- Moves items around in bathrooms
- Appears to paranormal investigators
Other spirits in the hotel have caused disturbances. Ghost hunters have picked up EVPs. Spirits move furniture around. Lights in guest rooms are turned on and off by unseen entities and cold spots have been reported.
I was a bellboy at the hotel in the late 1960s. It was a beautiful hotel with Japanese rice paper artwork at the front desk, 8 floors with the owner, Mr. McCormick living on the eighth floor. The basement had a lot of dark, long abandoned areas or rooms and tunnels. Who knows what they were used for. There were ballrooms, a restaurant, and a little sundry store. The hotel was centrally located in the US and was suited for many conventions. In the late 1960s, working there almost reminded me of the 1920s atmosphere. It almost felt like you had stepped back through time. It didn’t seem like the building had changed much since the 1920s. I had very memorable times at the Broadview Hotel.
I worked there in the late seventies as a setup and breakdown guy. They had many big business meetings and we had to set the big ballrooms up with the tables and chairs and then break it all down and vacuum and clean when they were done. I remember the basement area and long dark hallways. That was/Is a very big hotel. Seen some stuff there that would make you think twice. One room in particular had a lamp that would always blow out the light bulb and when you would put in a new bulb, it would always shock the crap out of you. And it was the room doing it because the lamp in that room had gotten replaced many times and every lamp would do the same thing! Seen huge big holes in the back area rooms that one time I thought there was a small dog came out of the hole, and it was a rat!! Those were the days back in the late seventies, working for peanuts! LoL