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Parsons needed a fine hotel. They formed a corporation known as Parsons Community
Hotel, Inc. which solicited funds, by selling shares of common stock to build a fire-resistant,
state-of-the-art hotel. Shares were sold for $100 each and soon construction was underway
for this million-dollar structure soon to be known as The Parsonian Hotel. Plans for the hotel
were drawn up by W. G. Knoebel, Registered Architect, working for Design Incorporated, an
architectural firm located at 9th and Sidney streets in St. Louis, MO. The hotel’s location,
18th and Broadway, was the former site of the old Orpheum Theatre which had been
destroyed by fire in the late 1930’s.
The hotel’s advertising boasted the fact that it was “new, modern, fire-proof and air-
conditioned”. It was eight stories high, with 80 guest rooms, an attractive lobby, a modern
coffee shop, public and private dining and meeting rooms and an elegant ballroom. It was
tastefully decorated and furnished in organic modern design. It was officially opened May
19th, 1954.
The Parsonian Hotel has had very few changes of ownership. The original management
company turned the ownership over to the Bartelli family who continued to operate it until the
current owners, Dale Markham and Paula Jungles, purchased it May 20, 2004, a day after its
50th anniversary of being opened. Dale and Paula began renovating it immediately and
have completed the lobby, ballroom, both conference rooms, and five floors of guest rooms
and suites. They have tried to preserve as much of the architecture and fixtures as
possible. You can still find the quaint original green and white mosaic tile floors in the
bathrooms, organic modern furniture in the restaurant and seventh floor guest rooms and
the unique stainless steel and aluminum light fixtures in the lobby areas and restaurant, as
well as the beautiful stainless steel winding staircase leading to the grand ballroom.
Dale and Paula invite you to come visit them. They love giving tours of this historic building
in downtown Parsons, Kansas. If you’re staying in Parsons the friendly, cozy Parsonian Hotel
is waiting for you.
