Plaza Time Building

Built at the start of the post-war construction boom, the Plaza Time Building provided Kansas City's growing Country Club shopping district with more office and retail space when it opened in 1947. The building was designed by architect Edward W. Tanner, a long-time partner of the Nichols Compan, utilizing a design that is consistent with the original Spanish aesthetic of the Plaza with familiar features such as a terracotta roof, red brick accents, and colorful tile around the windows. The iconic clock tower features arched openings, terra cotta cornices, a decorative tile facade, and a rounded dome capped with blue and yellow tile, topped with a decorative finial. During his career, Tanner designed a variety of structures, including airfields and regional hospitals during the war, several buildings on the Plaza, and more than 2000 homes in the Kansas City area.

Edward Tanner was the principal designer for J.C. Nichols when construction started on the Plaza in the early 1920s. Though Tanner left a few years later to form an independent firm, Nichols and Tanner remained partners on various projects throughout their careers. Their style was nationally known as “the Nichols towers with that Tanner wham.” 

Edward Tanner was born in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas in 1896 and grew up in Lawrence. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1916 with a degree from the newly established School of Engineering and Architecture. After graduation, Tanner moved to Kansas City and joined the firm of Shepard, Farrar, and Wiser. He later worked for the Concrete Engineering Company before enlisting in World War I in 1918 as an artillery instructor.

When the war ended, he joined the Nichols Company as their principal designer and helped develop the Country Club Plaza alongside founder J. C. Nichols and principal architect Edward Delk. A few years later, Tanner formed his own independent practice, Edward W. Tanner and Associates, although he remained an ally with the Nichols Company throughout his career. In 1942 he partnered with Ansell Mitchell to form Tanner and Mitchell, in which they executed plans for regional hospitals and airfields for the United States government in World War II, including Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, Missouri and Hays-Walker and Great Bend airfields in Kansas. 

After the war, Tanner and Associates remained and received contracts for houses, apartment complexes, commercial buildings, churches, and service stations. J. C. Nichols Company was his primary client and also served for years as the company’s Vice President on the Board of Directors. Tanner designed many of the buildings on the Country Club Plaza and around the area including the Sears and Roebuck retail store, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company Building, Plaza Theatre building, and Linda Hall Library on the campus of the University of Missouri - Kansas City. He also designed more than 2000 homes in the area, including those of Tom Pendergast and Walter E. Bixby, which is on the National Register. In 1961 he partnered yet again to create a new firm, Tanner, Linscott, and Associates, before retiring in 1964. When Edward Tanner died on April 26, 1974, he left behind an architectural legacy that continues to shape Kansas City.

Missouri SP Bixby, Walter E., House, National Archives Catalog. Accessed December 29th 2021. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63819234.

Jezak Ford, Susan. Biography of Edward Tanner (1896-1974), Architect, The Kansas City Public Library. Accessed December 30th 2021. https://kchistory.org/document/biography-edward-tanner-1896-1974-architect.

Country Club Plaza Walking Guide, Historic Kansas City. Accessed December 30th 2021. https://www.historickansascity.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/90529_HKC_Plaza-NO-MARKS.pdf.