Our History
Built in 1909, the Sikes Store was owned and operated by Bill Sikes and his family until 1977. In 2007 it was purchased and reopened as Nelson’s Landing restaurant by Alan and Kim Nelson. Kim ran it for 13 years before deciding to close in the spring of 2020.
On March 1st, 2022 we purchased it to open Sikes Venue. Our goal is for Sikes to be a gathering place for all of life’s celebrations. Sikes Venue is perfect for a wedding reception/dance, bridal or baby showers, birthday party, game days, or any other gathering you want to have.
Sikes Venue is located 30 minutes northwest of Manhattan, KS and 20 minutes from Clay Center, KS in the small town of Leonardville. There are not any hotels in Leonardville however, there are several hotel options in Manhattan. Clay Center also has a motel.
The main level of Sikes is 10,000 square feet, making it large enough to host a large wedding reception or dance. Sikes can also be broken up into three smaller rooms if you would like to host a more intimate gathering. The commercial kitchen is also available to rent separately or along with one of the other rooms.
Pictures of each room are on our Layout and Rooms in Sikes page. Please keep in mind though that we are currently renovating and what you see here is most likely not what it currently looks like! All rental options and prices are on our Plan Your Event page. If you don’t see an option that works for you, please contact us and we will see what we can work out for you. We would love to schedule a time for you to tour Sikes if you are interested in renting it.
We are hoping to have the upstairs renovations completed by next spring. The upstairs will include a bridal suite, 4-5 other smaller bedrooms, and a kitchenette. It will be available as an add-on for all wedding rentals or on its own during the week.
We are excited to carry on the preservation of this building and look forward to many celebrations in it! Follow along with our renovations on our blog page.
Lance and Jada Sharp