KCRag Forum

grovester wrote:No doubt. Well deserved.

pash wrote:Somebody suggested in another thread that Dave is the white Shaft, but it's getting to the point that we might just as well call Shaft the black Johnson.

pash wrote:Somebody suggested in another thread that Dave is the white Shaft, but it's getting to the point that we might just as well call Shaft the black Johnson.

DaveKCMO wrote:i accept the either white shaft or the black johnson.

Paul Berry had only lived in part of the house. When he died in 1985, it was in need of serious repair. In 1988, it was bought by Carl Lopp, a descendent of Anton Sauer.

"Nobody was doing maintenance, so the roof needed work, there were broken windows, it was kind of just deteriorating. So a lot of people wanted to save it," says Wendy Wilson, director of the Rosedale Development Association. She became aware of the house in 1993.

The city cited Lopp for codes violations. A developer submitted a proposal to renovate the castle and build new housing on the grounds. If approved, it meant the city could condemn the house and sell it to the developer. Wilson says that got Lopp’s attention.

"He went before the local Landmarks Commission, he did draft a plan. He did do some work but he never really completed it," she says.

Lopp appealed the code violations and they were reversed by the state supreme court. The developers withdrew their proposal because they were unable to survey the property and give a full financial estimate.

Work on the house stopped. Wilson has found it very frustrating.

"I mean he’s been offered fix it, sell it, we’ll help you. We suggested to him ‘why don’t you sell it. We’ll get a historic society or somebody and fix it up and put your family’s name on it,'" she says. "You know, what better memory of your family than to have this looking nice. And he was unwilling to do that."

FangKC wrote:Historic Kansas City releases list of most endangered properties for 2014

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/05/50 ... emper.html

• Downs Building, 18th Street and Prospect Avenue. Once home to the Casa Loma Ballroom, the building served “as an important center for African-American political, social and musical events” and is suffering from “demolition by neglect.”

FangKC wrote:

FangKC wrote:Historic Kansas City releases list of most endangered properties for 2014

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/05/50 ... emper.html

• Downs Building, 18th Street and Prospect Avenue. Once home to the Casa Loma Ballroom, the building served “as an important center for African-American political, social and musical events” and is suffering from “demolition by neglect.”

The Downs Building, which was listed on Historic Kansas City's list of most endangered properties in 2014, has been demolished. The site will be redeveloped as a Family Dollar store.

http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/on-the- ... id=6482923

FangKC wrote:

FangKC wrote:

FangKC wrote:Historic Kansas City releases list of most endangered properties for 2014

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/05/50 ... emper.html

• Downs Building, 18th Street and Prospect Avenue. Once home to the Casa Loma Ballroom, the building served “as an important center for African-American political, social and musical events” and is suffering from “demolition by neglect.”

FangKC wrote:Historic Kansas City releases its' 2015 Most Endangered Building List

No specific order:

1. Sauer Castle, 935 Shawnee Road, Kansas City, KS