Gate City National Bank and Women's City Club; Ambassador Hotel and Lonnie's Reno Club

Built in 1920 for the Gate City National Bank and designed by the Kansas City architectural firm of Keene & Simpson, this historic structure blends two designs found throughout the downtown area. The first three stories incorporate large corniced pillars and other features typical of bank headquarters, while the upper stories resemble the design of some of the neighboring skyscrapers erected during the early twentieth century. The bank occupied the first floor and leased the upper floors to the Women's City Club and various commercial firms. Among the Women's Club's many activities, it created a "Milk Station" that fed otherwise malnourished babies using donated breast milk. A major renovation project that began in 2011 saw the conversion of the historic bank and office building into the Ambassador Hotel, which opened in 2012. The hotel is the home of Lonnie's Reno Club, a live music venue that pays tribute to one of Kansas City's historic jazz clubs where Count Basie, Charlie Parker, and many other musicians performed.

The Gate City National Bank operated for fourteen years in Kansas City (founded in 1906) before building and moving into the historic building in 1920. The Gate City Bank Building's unique blend of high-rise characteristics and Neo-Classical style, a popular architectural choice for financial institutions during the 1920s, is partly due to a change in its size. Planners initially intended for the Gate City building to rise ten stories, with floors four through nine identical in appearance, but it only included six stories when construction ended. 

The bank occupied the lowest floor, but the upper floors housed The Women's Club, founded by Mrs. James M. Coburn. The club hosted weekly meetings for middle-class women (mainly financially independent families) to discuss philanthropic goals, civic topics, and cultural activities. However, its most famous action involved the creation of the "Milk Station," which, in 1920, involved collecting nearly 25,000 ounces of donated breast milk, which they used to feed around 500 babies.

In 1930, shortly after the onset of the Great Depression, when banks throughout the country merged or closed, Gate City National Bank merged with another bank to become Traders Gate City National Bank. In 1949, the bank dropped the "Gate City" from the moniker and simply went by Traders National Bank. In the late twentieth century, the building served as the home to storied businesses such as a law firm, an architectural firm, and a nightclub. In 2011, a $7.5 million rehabilitation project transformed the historic bank into a boutique hotel. The work resulted in two awards: The 2012 Historic Kansas City Excellence Award for Adaptive Reuse and the 2013 Preservation Missouri Award. The Ambassador Hotel pays tribute to Kansas City's unique history when this building was constructed, including a jazz venue named in honor of the iconic Reno Club where the Count Basie Orchestra performed along with numerous other influential musicians. The club grew out of a popular outdoor live music space during the public health crisis of 2020 and became part of the hotel the following year after an agreement between the hotel's owner and club operator and performer Lonnie McFadden.

Deel, Karla. "Ambassador Hotel (Gate City National Bank). Squeezbox (blog). squeezboxcity.com. February 11, 2018. http://www.squeezeboxcity.com/gate-city-national-bank/.

"Gate City National Bank: Ambassador Hotel." Rosin Preservation. Accessed September 17, 2022. https://rosinpreservation.com/portfolio_page/ambassador-hotel/.

Pelofsky, Joel, Ronald L. Kraft, and C. David Whipple. "Nomination Form: Gate City National Bank." National Register of Historic Places. mostateparks.com. 1981. https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Gate%20City%20National%20Bank.pdf. 

Interview by David Trowbridge with Nicholas Boden, General Manager of the Majestic, 9121/24