KCRag Forum

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/27/31 ... hanna.html

The plan calls for spending $16 million to acquire and renovate the six-story building at 1511 Baltimore Ave., and locate 100 employees there, members of the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority board were told today.

The development, which is seeking a tax abatement and historic tax credits for the renovation, also calls for demolishing the Lane Blueprint building at 1520 Main St., attorney Chase Simmons told the PIEA board.

I'm encouraged to see the Hanna Rubber Co. building renovated with a software company as a tenant. This is the type of business benefits downtown, and had potential for growth.

However, I'm sad to see the Lane Blueprint building on Main demolished. It appears to be a building that could be renovated and house a restaurant or small business. I don't see the point of demolishing it.

The article doesn't state why it's being demolished. I assume it's for more parking. It's too bad that some sort of underground garage couldn't be built on the corner of Truman and Main--like was done with the Vitagraph Building on 17th Street and Wyandotte--with storefront retail space and upper-story offices.

When you look on Google maps and see all that parking on the west side of Baltimore, across from Hanna, it just seems ill-conceived to tear down another building. Then again, there is a 1000-space parking garage under the Kauffman Center just 2.5 blocks away that will probably be sitting empty most of the day.

Sporting KC seems pretty aware of public opinion, too late for a campaign?

Email sent, let you know if they respond.

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Having been inside the Lane building, that thing is crumbling and scary. I'd hate to see it torn down, but it needs major attention stat.

If I read the article correctly, it appears they are knocking the Lane Building down with the potential to build another 3 story building in it's place if demand warrants.

That is how I read it. Could be mistaken.

Here is a nicer pic I took last year. This building has some great details...plus it must be one of the oldest buildings left in the area. They used rough Limestone on the facade!! Not much of that downtown these days. I also love the bay windows.

It has a lot of character.

Save it!!

may i use this picture for a facebook group?

I very much would like to see the investment, property upgrade and creative reuse of the Hanna building by Sporting Innovations. However, as often happens, they appear limited in vision and perhaps misinformed.

On the information front, there is not a "historical board" that reviews applications for historic credits. And the likelyhood that they will be allowed to cut windows into the north face are quite slim. I would want them too, but that is a hard case to make. Very hard.

This quote makes my skin crawl:"The Sporting Innovations development plan would require the demolition of the old building at 1520 Main St. where Lane Blueprint is now located. Simmons told the PIEA board the building was too structurally weakened to be renovated."

The building is 120 years old +/-. Please take a bit of time to listen to, and consider possibilities.

That is the traditional line used in these cases, but I guess they know that they can't come in and say "it's old, I don't like old and I don't have the time or creativity to build something awesome. I think it's a piece of sh-t and i'm gonna make it go away."

here we go again! like it, please: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-the- ... 9048845291

Sure, no problem using the photo. I really hope we can save this structure. It's so sad how KC is still stuck in the past, demolishing old buildings.

I'm so spoiled here in DC...they don't tear ANYTHING down pretty much anymore. If there is an old building in the way of development they either incorporate it all, or at least cut off the back and use the facade.

It does appear that there are some cracks and sagging in the facade, but those things CAN be fixed.

mean wrote:Having been inside the Lane building, that thing is crumbling and scary. I'd hate to see it torn down, but it needs major attention stat.

Almost any building that is 120 years old is going to be "crumbling and scary" if it hasn't been maintained well. That doesn't mean it can't be fixed.

It is also not surprising that the structure is structurally weakened. However, buildings in much worse shape have been stabilized and renovated.

Before any historic tax credits are given to this overall project, I would hope an independent inspector with experience resolving problems with old buildings would take a look at the Lane Blueprint building, and report to the City.

The thing about these historic buildings of this era (1889), is you don't fix them up just to house businesses. You restore them because they are pieces of time. You keep them so people can see how buildings used to be designed.

I haven't done a lot of checking, but this might be the second oldest building remaining in the Crossroads. Most buildings in the area were constructed from 1900-1930. Webster House was built in 1885.

The Berlau Paper building at Truman and Walnut, and the Taylor Building, at Walnut and 17th, were probably built around the same time as the Lane Blueprint building, but I'm unsure of the years.

There are few buildings in greater downtown of this vintage, and certainly few that feature the stonework on the facade and bay windows.

loftguy wrote: And the likelyhood that they will be allowed to cut windows into the north face are quite slim. I would want them too, but that is a hard case to make. Very hard.

Loftguy, didn't they allow Trozzolo to cut new windows in the north wall at 807 Wyandotte? I thought they used historic tax credits to renovate that building.

Before:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trozzolo/4 ... 583758557/

After:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trozzolo/5 ... hotostream

FangKC wrote:

loftguy wrote: And the likelyhood that they will be allowed to cut windows into the north face are quite slim. I would want them too, but that is a hard case to make. Very hard.

Loftguy, didn't they allow Trozzolo to cut new windows in the north wall at 807 Wyandotte? I thought they used historic tax credits to renovate that building.

Before:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trozzolo/4 ... 583758557/

After:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trozzolo/5 ... hotostream

Good question, Fang. I do not know if Trozzolo used historic credits, but yes they did cut windows into the north facade.

I would note that the Trozzolo north face was a "secondary facade", because it was not a primary face of the building and there was a building adjoining that face.

A maybe though, which reflects the hairsplitting that sometimes determines what can and can't be done in historic credit process.

FangKC wrote:

mean wrote:Having been inside the Lane building, that thing is crumbling and scary. I'd hate to see it torn down, but it needs major attention stat.

Almost any building that is 120 years old is going to be "crumbling and scary" if it hasn't been maintained well. That doesn't mean it can't be fixed.

It is also not surprising that the structure is structurally weakened. However, buildings in much worse shape have been stabilized and renovated.

Before any historic tax credits are given to this overall project, I would hope an independent inspector with experience resolving problems with old buildings would take a look at the Lane Blueprint building, and report to the City.

The thing about these historic buildings of this era (1889), is you don't fix them up just to house businesses. You restore them because they are pieces of time. You keep them so people can see how buildings used to be designed.

I haven't done a lot of checking, but this might be the second oldest building remaining in the Crossroads. Most buildings in the area were constructed from 1900-1930. Webster House was built in 1885.

The Berlau Paper building at Truman and Walnut, and the Taylor Building, at Walnut and 17th, were probably built around the same time as the Lane Blueprint building, but I'm unsure of the years.

There are few buildings in greater downtown of this vintage, and certainly few that feature the stonework on the facade and bay windows.

Dude. I'm not saying tear it down, I'm saying it needs to be fixed before it falls down. If you would like to go fix it, be my guest. Unfortunately, I don't have the cash or I'd offer to buy it from the owner and do it myself.

lane has signs up saying they're moving to 15 w. 20th.

anyone know someone who worked for the following?

- Freed Wall Paper & Paint Company
- Donaldson Antique & Auction Company
- Clawson Rex & Company (art supplies)

There are also some tenant signs painted on the north facade, but it's hard to discern what they say (pianos? something supply company?).

City directories weren't helpful before 1925, so I'm having trouble confirming the 1889 date the county has on record. their tax record says 1512 main, which isn't the current address. possible it was re-platted and that date is still accurate? i suppose it's possible that the county's information isn't 100% accurate.

I'm speculating, but I would think sometimes addresses might change on blocks where other buildings have been torn down. I've noticed that occurs sometimes when I'm doing research on old buildings that seem to have different addresses over time. I'm guessing that sometimes a business might move from a smaller building to a larger one next door, after the smaller building has been demolished, and they apply to keep their old address so they don't have to change it on letterhead, shipping labels, phone directories, and other things that they are listed on. This might be especially true in cases where they have advertised an address for a long time, and the public has come to memorize the address.

909 Walnut is not the original address for the old Fidelity Bank and Trust Building. It was originally 911 Walnut.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/document.php? ... 1385&REC=4

An interesting historical sidenote is that the north tower of 909 Walnut used to have a clock on three sides (facing north, east, and west), and the south tower had a clock on one side (facing south).

This first building had in its twin towers the old town clock and bell, purchased by public-spirited citizens because there was no U.S. appropriation at the time for the clock and bell. The clock was said to be the largest clock west of the Mississippi River. The old bell first rang in the New Year of 1884.

In 1902 the federal government built a new post office at 9th and Grand, and sold the old three-story building to the Fidelity Trust Company, which used this location until it was outgrown. The old clock continued to ring out the hour on its 3,900-pound bell. Then in 1929 the trust company decided to raze the building and build the current skyscraper. In 1931, as the Fidelity Bank building neared completion, the old clock was installed in the twin towers, the four faces looking out over the city in four directions.

In 1946 the federal government bought the Fidelity Bank Building. The clock continued to tick away, but during the mid-1950s it was decided that the manpower needed to keep the clock in operating condition could be better used elsewhere. The clock was turned off. In August 1972 government officials feared the stained glass face of the clock might fall into the street 35 stories below, and it was dismantled.

Photos showing clock on 909 Walnut.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... X=1&REC=13

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... X=1&REC=15

1949 article about New Year Eve and clocks being watched across the nation as year and decade changed--including Fidelity Bank and Trust towers--at the time the highest clocks in the nation.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=3

Dave, another resource that might be better than anything is the news morgue at the KC Star, where historical clippings from old stories are kept. Usually when a new business opens or closes, there would be an article on it. The other thing is they might have kept old ads from that company as well, since almost everyone in that era advertised using newspapers.

Email Kevin Collison at The Star and ask him if the public is allowed in the news morgue to research, and/or if there is a librarian in the news morgue who you can call and ask them to look for those businesses in old files and tell you what they have on them.

kcollison@kcstar.com

thanks, fang! can anyone confidently confirm that the facade is limestone?