City Hall South Plaza

South Plaza was the original front entrance of Kansas City, Missouri's City Hall, and served as the main entrance for the building until 2007. There are several fountains that border the steps to the entrance, as well as multiple statues, including a sculpture of President Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad. Visitors can also view large carvings on the exterior of the sixth floor from the South Plaza. The central motif of the South face features a symbolic figure of Kansas City personified and enthroned, with a sun-crest above her head and surrounded by representations of civic virtues such as Education, Law, Faith, and Public Spirit.

The South Plaza of City Hall has always been intended to be a space for the public in addition to offering a grand entrance for the building. The construction of the Plaza and the parking garage below was funded by a grant from the New Deal Era Public Works Administration (PWA). This grant represented a promised 40% match of Federal funding and amounted to $1.575 Million for the Plaza and an additional $164,827 for the parking garage.

There are several notable sculptures featured on the Plaza. The oldest are the two sea-scape-themed fountains that flank the Plaza’s staircase. The large seahorse-shaped fountains were nicknamed “Lugs” and “Cuts” by City employees after their installation. These names refer to the “lugs” of the Pendergast political machine that both supported and profited from the construction of City Hall, and the “cuts” to wages workers experienced during the Great Depression.

There are also two large lion sculptures that guard the South Entrance to City Hall. These statues were gifts to the City of Kansas City on behalf of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Taiwanese Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shih-Cheng “Robert” Lui presented the statues to the City in December 1976 as a way to mark the U.S. Bicentennial (Carroll, The Kansas City Star). Vice Minister Lui was displaying his country's gratitude in honor of Kansas City’s “Republic of China Trade Show” that took place in the Spring of 1976. In their original cultural context, this type of lion statue is said to ward off evil spirits and bad fortune.

Finally, there is a large bronze sculpture of President Abraham Lincoln and his son, Tad. This sculpture was a gift from Mr. Orville Anderson, a well-known local photographer and civic activist active in the 1940s political reform movement. The statue was installed and dedicated on the 15^th of September, 1986. Mr. Anderson was 98 years old at that time, and he not only funded the creation of the statue, he also helped raise private funds for its base and an endowment for its care amounting to $200,000. The sculpture is the product of Mr. Lorenzo Ghiglieri of Portland, OR, who remarked at the dedication, "I was trying to show him as a caring and loving father . . . What's really important to the whole world is how we care for each other and how we care for the world."

Bean, Tom. Kansas City (Mo.) City Hall Building files (SC87). Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri, April 3, 2001.

Carroll, Robert L. and The Kansas City Star. Ti and Wei Guard City Hall, Kansas City Star (Published as THE KANSAS CITY STAR), December 30, 1976, P8. 30 Dec. 1976, https://infoweb-newsbank-com.mcpl.idm.oclc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3A1126152C%21Kansas%20City%20Star%20Collection%20including%20Historical%20archives/decade%3A1970%211970%2B-%2B1979/year%3A1976%211976&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=1976%20and%20%22Republic%20of%20China%22&docref=image/v2%3A1126152C152E4978%40EANX-NB-15BE52BEF80352C7%402443143-15BD12797A04B722%407-15BD12797A04B722%40.

City Hall, 12th Street | KC History. https://kchistory.org/index/city-hall-12th-street?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=ec3ed13ce4ab73476ca7&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=7. Accessed 30 Aug. 2021.

D.P. Breckenridge, The Kansas City Star. Dream of a Lincoln Statue Fires 95-Year-Old, Kansas City Star (Published as The Kansas City Star), June 8, 1983, P60. 8 June 1983, https://infoweb-newsbank-com.mcpl.idm.oclc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3A1126152C%21Kansas%20City%20Star%20Collection%20including%20Historical%20archives/decade%3A1980%211980%2B-%2B1989/year%3A1983%211983&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22June%208%2C%201983%22%20and%20Lincoln&docref=image/v2%3A1126152C152E4978%40EANX-NB-15F8566AE465C774%402445494-15F65C3A3156FF5A%4059-15F65C3A3156FF5A%40.

Staff, The Kansas City Star. City Hall Money, Kansas City Star (Published as The Kansas City Star), September 28, 1935, P1. 28 Sept. 1935, https://infoweb-newsbank-com.mcpl.idm.oclc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3A1126152C%21Kansas%20City%20Star%20Collection%20including%20Historical%20archives&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22September%2028%2C%201935%22%20and%20%22PWA%22&docref=image/v2%3A1126152C152E4978%40EANX-NB-15F2143547D11790%402428074-15F2111E6E03F6E3%400-15F2111E6E03F6E3%40.

Staff, The Kansas City Star. Lincoln Statue Is Dedicated at City Hall, Kansas City Star (Published as The Kansas City Star), September 15, 1986, P5. 15 Sept. 1986, https://infoweb-newsbank-com.mcpl.idm.oclc.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=favorite%3A1126152C%21Kansas%20City%20Star%20Collection%20including%20Historical%20archives&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22September%2015%2C%201986%22%20and%20%22Lincoln%20statue%22&docref=image/v2%3A1126152C152E4978%40EANX-NB-16474E909A53213A%402446689-164744056D955CEC%404-164744056D955CEC%40.