East Kellogg Charlie’s Car Wash has a reopening sign, but don’t trust that silly thing

Have you seen the Charlie’s Car Wash sign at the southwest corner of Kellogg and Greenwich that says the chain will be returning to the site in 2024?

“That sign has been a humorous thing,” said Marcia Stephenson, spokeswoman for the Salina company.

Way back in the summer of 2016, Have You Heard? reported that it would take awhile , but Green Lantern Car Wash, as it was known then, eventually would reopen on the corner.

The business closed because of construction along Kellogg, and another Green Lantern opened on the east side of North Rock Road by the K-96 off ramp.

Since then, the company changed the Green Lantern name to Charlie’s Car Wash, and since about 2019, it has kept updating its sign near Kellogg and Greenwich to reflect when it will reopen.

Each year the sign is updated, and each year the business still hasn’t been rebuilt.

“I remember thinking, you cannot do that,” Stephenson said of trying to share an opening year.

That’s because more often than not — for all businesses — things seem to happen, even without a pandemic.

In this case, the pandemic initially was to blame. Charlie’s was working on a car wash in Topeka that took much longer than expected due to the pandemic.

The new Wichita car wash was to follow, but then Stephenson said the company had lease opportunities for two new car washes in Lenexa and Overland Park and had to do those first.

“Our construction team can only do so much.”

Even though the sign now says the new car wash is coming in 2024, Stephenson said that’s not the case.

However, there are indications of movement.

Within the last month or so, the company acquired a small piece of right-of-way, “which helped us square that property up,” Stephenson said.

There’s also some storm water studies underway, and then at some point, infrastructure will start going in.

The company will start moving dirt in the spring, and construction will take about nine months depending on weather — and no other stores interfering.

“I do have all hope that that sucker is opening next,” Stephenson said.

The new car wash will feature a dual tunnel in which there will be exterior car washing like normal along with interior cleaning as cars move along a conveyor belt.

“It’s more modern,” Stephenson said.

Customers can walk along and watch the process or sit in a customer waiting area.

“It’s very quick,” Stephenson said. “It’s just fun watching it happen.”