Oak Tower

Issues concerning Downtown as described by the Downtown Council. River to 31st Street, I-35 to Bruce R. Watkins.
UrbanKC
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by UrbanKC »

If anyone has seen the professional restoration efforts in Greece, and around Europe, I think restoring Oak Tower would be entirely manageable. Especially considering modern technology, techniques and materials. Sure, part of the problem back in the day may have been a crumbling facade, but that's more the fault of the materials and application of them. Whereas modern materials and especially the codes & regulations that govern their installation, would not lead to that again. The colors could also be matched much more closely than in previous years.

It just would take a lot of money to demo the cladding, and then restore the exterior.
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chaglang
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by chaglang »

It’s likely that the pieces that had the faulty attachment pins were removed and trashed before stucco was put on. I’m curious how someone could test the remaining panels to make sure the attachments on those are still ok.
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

Considering how much of the terra cotta on the west side is still exposed, and how much peeks through in other areas, I doubt the siding was actually much of a concern. Combine that with the restoration of the bottom three floors and the video evidence that the frame was just punched through the cladding and I'm led to believe that the only portions completely removed were the tips of the spires on each setback. It seems like they went really cheap with the modernization, so I doubt they spent much more than necessary on demo.

On another note, since it's all terra cotta instead of stone, the materials should be relatively inexpensive. The base of the hotel indigo, for instance, was restored with seemingly little trouble. Oak Tower would be a much larger project, sure, but I don't think it would be that much more complicated
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

Ironically, I think the stucco has become a debris hazard in the same way they feared the terra cotta would be. As shown in the videos, it is falling apart, and that was over ten years ago
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chaglang
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by chaglang »

Somewhere there has to be some documentation of what was removed.
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

chaglang wrote:Somewhere there has to be some documentation of what was removed.
Oh I'm sure, but I doubt it's publicly available. Probably in the building's own archives. That's how they figured out which junkyard the canopy got thrown into.
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chaglang
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by chaglang »

Oh, that terra cotta wasn't thrown away. What's not serving as garden ornaments in backyards across Midtown and Brookside is probably sitting in the basement of Architectural Salvage.
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

chaglang wrote:Oh, that terra cotta wasn't thrown away. What's not serving as garden ornaments in backyards across Midtown and Brookside is probably sitting in the basement of Architectural Salvage.
Earlier in the thread loftguy mentioned that there were dumpsters involved during the demo. Although, he also said the whole outer skin had been leveled so idk what's right. All I know is that the entry canopy got tossed and then recovered
moderne
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by moderne »

I had a piece of the tip of one of the gothic spires in my backyard, obtained decades ago at the Heart drive in swap meet.
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

moderne wrote:I had a piece of the tip of one of the gothic spires in my backyard, obtained decades ago at the Heart drive in swap meet.
Oh cool! So, you don't have it anymore?
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by moderne »

No, left it in the garden when I sold the house. It was very heavy.
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

moderne wrote:No, left it in the garden when I sold the house. It was very heavy.
Understandable. It's good to know there are parts still out there and it wasn't all thrown away!
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KC_JAYHAWK
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by KC_JAYHAWK »

Is this building occupied? It's never lit up at night like City Hall, which is a shame.
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

KC_JAYHAWK wrote:Is this building occupied? It's never lit up at night like City Hall, which is a shame.
The tenant list in the lobby has a few companies listed, but the rest of the building is a data center. That's why it goes totally dark at night and why it has the pile of junk on the roof.
In some of the videos you can see the old spotlights on the ground, long disused. It really is a shame.
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normalthings
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by normalthings »

KC_JAYHAWK wrote:Is this building occupied? It's never lit up at night like City Hall, which is a shame.
Mostly a bunch of computers I think
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FangKC
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by FangKC »

Doesn't the City rent space in it?
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

FangKC wrote:Doesn't the City rent space in it?
Via Emporis
Over half of the structure is leased to the City of Kansas City for use as city offices
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KC_JAYHAWK
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by KC_JAYHAWK »

I thought the Bryant building was one big data center? I probably have them mixed up, but the Bryant building could use some tlc as well. Pretty sure it still has the original lead windows in it.
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

KC_JAYHAWK wrote:I thought the Bryant building was one big data center? I probably have them mixed up, but the Bryant building could use some tlc as well. Pretty sure it still has the original lead windows in it.
They are both data centers. I don't think the bryant building has anything else in it though. I've tried the door before and it's always locked with a keypad. It's a big shame because there's a beautiful art deco shopping arcade inside. At least oak tower allows visitors inside
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Oak Tower

Post by TheLastGentleman »

Here's some random stuff I've come across while researching this building.

Some nice shots via the National Building Arts Center's haydite archive, found here. It features several other KC projects.
http://web.nationalbuildingarts.org/col ... o-archive/
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An article detailing the plane crash.
https://www.gendisasters.com/missouri/1 ... C-jan-1964
Plane Wreckage Showers Downtown Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Two men were doing paper work in the temporary baggage shed behind the Continental Trailways bus station Saturday night when a body hurtled through the roof.
A man stepped outside the bus station at 1021 McGee St., and parts of an airplane fluttered down a few feet in front of him.
A few seconds earlier a single-engine, red and white Mooney Mark 20 aircraft had crashed into the 28th floor of the South-western Bell Telephone Co. a block away at 11th and Oak streets. The bodies of the four occupants and pieces of the plane were strewn over rooftops on both sides of McGee Street to the west of the telephone building. Five buildings were hit by parts of the wreckage.
The victims were JACK DAVID GORHAM, 29, the pilot; LAWRENCE G. TRAPP, 32; his wife, HELEN, and their 2 ½-year-old son, WILLIAM LEROY TRAPP, all of Kansas City.
The crash occurred at 5:30 p. m., closing time of downtown stores. The plane was groping its way through snow, fog and darkness and apparently was preparing to land at either the Fairfax Airport of Municipal Air Terminal, both more than a mile from the crash scene.
GORHAM'S body hurtled through the baggage shed. The bodies of MRS. TRAPP and her son landed on the roof of a one-story building at the northwest corner of 11th and McGee. TRAPP'S body was found on top of the adjoining, seven-story YWCA building.
GORHAM and TRAPP were next-door neighbors and both were aircraft mechanics for Trans World Airlines. GORHAM also worked part time for Aircraft Industrial Services, Inc., owner of the plane.
GORHAM had borrowed the plane Saturday morning and had flown the TRAPPS to Buffalo, Mo., about 115 miles southwest of Kansas City. There the men went quail hunting while MRS. TRAPP and BILLY visited MRS. TRAPP'S parents, MR. AND MRS. RAY HOWARD of Buffalo.
The victims were headed home when the pilot apparently became lost over the city.
JOHN MUMPOWER was walking between 10th and 11th on Locust Street, a block west of the crash scene, when the plane flew overhead.
“I realized it was much too low,” MUMPOWER said. “It looked like it was only six or eight levels above a four-story apartment building, but it must have been some higher than that.”
“Before I could think much about it. I heard the crash. It was just two or three seconds after I saw the plane.”
He said the plane was in level flight and headed in a south-westerly direction. The motor sounded normal, he said.

Florence Morning News South Carolina 1964-01-13
The lampposts like the one seen in the zepplin shot still exist.....

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...but are horribly rusted. The lanterns have been replaced with warning lights. Adaptive reuse, I guess.

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There's a noticeably large gap between two of the floors. This was the original roof deck from before the building's height was doubled.

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The floodlights still exist, they just aren't used.

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....and with that, I think that's everything I've managed to find out about this building. Thanks for reading!
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