KCRag Forum

The tower was originally 14 stories (185 feet), without any set-backs, but the fast-growing telephone company soon required more space. An addition completed in 1929 doubled the tower's height and made it the tallest building in Missouri until the Kansas City Power & Light Building surpassed it in 1931.[3][4]

Oak Tower's top half was built with Haydite, the first modern structural lightweight concrete, which had recently been invented and patented in Kansas City by Stephen J. Hayde. The tower's 1929 expansion was the first major project to use the new building material, and it allowed the addition of fourteen new stories, six more than would have been possible using conventional concrete.[5][6]

pash wrote:The Wikipedia article about downtown is particularly egregious. ...

moderne wrote:SW Bell actually did plan to enlarge the building with a twin on the McGee side and a tall gothic spire in between. It would have made it not only the largest building downtown, but also the tallest. There was also a plan in the late eighties to modify the "modernization" with vertical window panels to give it a deco-esque look complete with plantings cascading over the setbacks.

moderne wrote:SW Bell actually did plan to enlarge the building with a twin on the McGee side and a tall gothic spire in between. It would have made it not only the largest building downtown, but also the tallest. There was also a plan in the late eighties to modify the "modernization" with vertical window panels to give it a deco-esque look complete with plantings cascading over the setbacks.

TheLastGentleman wrote: I'm building up a collection of unbuilt/alternative project proposals for Kansas City buildings and was wondering if you ever came across those articles. I'd love to include them.

moderne wrote:I have the magazine and newspaper clippings stuck between the pages of the KC architecture books' entry on this building. Someday I will unpack the box the book is in and scan the articles.

Despite a nationwide slowdown in the construction of new shopping centers, developers here are moving forward with a plan for a new mall within blocks of Country Club Plaza, a 70-year-old regional shopping center.

The use of the 17-acre site has long been a sensitive issue in Kansas City, partly because of fears that a second commercial center might undermine Country Club Plaza, which is an object of civic pride and a local landmark. The proposal will come before the City Council for approval of tax-increment financing, which helps to offset development costs. Money for this type of financing comes largely from the property taxes generated by major new projects.

The developer is Michael J. Floersheim, a commodities broker with interests in oil, ore and real estate, who acquired most of the land after the plan of another developer was never fully carried out. The other developer was R. H. Sailors & Company, which won approval for tax abatement, granted under Chapter 353 of the Missouri Redevelopment Law, in 1987 after a sharp political battle. The Sailors' plan was for high-rise apartments and offices. Some of the office space but none of the apartments were built.

The Floersheim plan calls for 1.7 million square feet of office and shopping space in a development called Park Central Plaza. It would have two office buildings of 477,000 square feet, one of 8 stories and the other of 14 stories, and a retail component of 740,000 square feet, of which 370,000 square feet would be shops and restaurants.

TheLastGentleman wrote:Going back to Oak Tower itself, I recently went in the lobby of the building just to see what was in there. I was surprised to find that the room just to the right of the entrance is still decorated in art deco! They even have framed photos and blueprints of the building. I spoke to the one person working in there, and she very enthusiastically showed me around. One of the most interesting things she told me was that the entrance canopy had been dumped in a junkyard after the modernization took place, and after the building changed ownership the new owner saw an old photo showing the canopy and demanded it be found and reattached. It was, and the photo in question is on display in that room. I also asked her if there was any possibility of the building's terracotta being restored. She seemed convinced it would be impossible, and said it's all gone. I was inclined to agree with her, except that I later realized the first three floors were once also covered in stucco, but are now fully restored. I realize restoring three floors is nothing compared to restoring an entire skyscraper, but I couldn't imagine it would be impossible. What do you all think?