Ming’s restaurant building on South Seneca has a date with the wrecking ball

It was built to house a King-X restaurant called J-Bar-X in the mid-1950s. It was home to a Skaets Steak Shop, which served charcoal-broiled steaks, in the 1960s.

Several other restaurants occupied the building at 1625 S. Seneca until 1977, when it was taken over by Ray Chan. For nearly five decades, Chan ran it as Ming’s , a Chinese restaurant that earned legions of loyal fans.

Soon, though, the old restaurant building will meet the wrecking ball.

Chan, who retired and closed his restaurant in June, sold it to his next-door neighbor to the south, Allpak Battery, whose address is 1645 S. Seneca.

Aron Haynes, the new owner, said on Wednesday that he plans to demolish the Ming’s building and extend his warehouse onto the property. He’s in need of more storage space, he said.

The demolition should happen after the first of the year.

Haynes said he didn’t yet have any specific plans for the mid-century sign in front of the building.

The South Seneca Allpak Battery has been open in Wichita since 1998, Haynes said. It’s been at its current address since 2008. There’s also an Allpak store at 841 N. Tyler. The business sells batteries for cars, cell phones, laptops and more.

Chan rented the building on South Seneca for decades from Fran Jabara. Jabara died in 2015, and earlier this year, Fran’s son, Harvey, told Chan he should have the final say about the building and sold it to him.

When the restaurant was closing in June, Chan said that he was trying to decide whether to lease it out or sell it. He chose the latter0

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