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When completed, the building included space for numerous offices and stores in addition to a seating capacity of 1,600, including 570 on the orchestra floor and the rest in the balcony, gallery, and boxes.

Postcard of the Gayety Theater that once stood on the southeast corner of 12th and Wyandotte streets.

The theater included burlesque entertainment, as demonstrated by these dancers performing as Hurtig & Seamon's Social Maids circa 1912

The Gayety Theater operated at this location, the SE Corner of 12th and Wyandotte, from 1909 to 1935. The theater was constructed at the site of meatpacker A.W. Amour's former mansion and showed movies and also hosted musical performances and the occasional burlesque performance. Many of the leading jazz musicians performed here during the 1930s. The College Inn nightclub operated in the budling in the 1940s and the building was demolished around 1950 when the Muehlbach Hotel (now part of the Marriott) expanded.

Gayety Theater (1909-1935)

This brief walking tour includes stops at over a dozen historic hotels and theaters, including those that continue to operate and some that have been lost to time or repurposed. 12th Street was the center of Kansas City's entertainment district in the 1920s, and this tour includes several of the leading theaters and hotels of the early 1900s when jazz was king and prohibition was scarcely enforced thanks. Given Kansas City's reputation as a "wide-open" town, this district was home to numerous theaters, social clubs, and entertainment venues in the 1920s and 1930s. 

<h4>History of the Folly Theater</h4>First known as the “Standard Theater,” this extraordinarily designed building opened on September 23rd, 1900. In its early years, the theater showcased vaudeville and burlesque performances, and due to a fire at the nearby Coates Opera House, the theater soon produced opera and comic opera performances as well. By 1902, the theater changed its name to the “Century” and, in addition to vaudeville and burlesque, featured prizefighting and wrestling (including the likes of Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey). The theater closed in 1922 and reopened a year later, renamed the “Schubert's Missouri.” It was during the roaring ‘20s in Kansas City that the theater featured major dramatic productions, but unfortunately, in 1932, the theater closed once again.1The theater reopened in 1941 as the Folly Theater, and during this time, the theater showcased a new form of burlesque, the striptease. Famed striptease artists such as Tempest Storm, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Cherry Smash performed during this time. Many other types of shows were performed at the theater, ranging from singers to clowns and jugglers. Eventually, the entertainment at the theater became seedier, leading to a raid in 1963 for allowing total nudity and an attempted bombing (a stick of dynamite in a nearby drain pipe) in 1969. The Folly Theater closed in 1973 and was set to turn into a parking lot, but after being placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the theater was purchased and renovated. In 2014, the entire archives of the Folly Theater were handed to the Kansas City Public Library.2

The historic Folly Theater is Kansas City’s oldest theater and entertainment venue, dating back to 1900. It still operates as a functional theater today (showing live theater, jazz performances, national touring shows, and other programs) and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although the Folly Theater is seen as a place of quality, family entertainment, the theater’s origins were based in vaudeville, burlesque, and, later, striptease performances, showcasing nationally acclaimed artists such as Gypsy Rose Lee and Tempest Storm. In the 1920s, however, the Folly Theater (then named the "Shubert's Missouri”) produced dramatic productions and even featured the Marx Brothers and a young Humphrey Bogart. After falling into disrepair in the 1970s, the KCMO community took up the cause and saved the Folly Theater, and it is now one of the most important theatrical and historical sites in the downtown area.

Folly Theater, Kansas City

Every President from Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan styed at the Muehlebach Hotel, which is now one of three buildings that make up the Kansas City Marriott. The hotel was created by George E. Muehlebach, the son of the founder of Kanas City's Muehlebach beer. While President, Harry S. Truman stayed at the hotel so frequently that some referred to the Muehlebach as the far west wing of the White House. The hotel hosted the guests of the 1928 Republican Convention and the 1976 Republican National Convention, an event that saw the nomination of Gerald Ford despite a strong challenge by supporters of Ronald Reagan. Ten years later, the Muehlebach Hotel closed and was vacant for ten years until acquired by Marriott. The grand lobby of the original 1915 hotel has been restored.

This large fountain was built in 1985 as part of a redesign of the Barney Allis Plaza, and urban park located above a parking garage at the site of the city's first convention hall which was built to host the Democratic National Convention of 1900. That convention hall was used until the 1930s and today, the plaza where it once stood is a tree-lined urban park that features several statues and is named after the manager of the former Muehlebach Hotel which was located across the street. That historic hotel is now part of the Marriott Hotel. Barney Allis managed the hotel for three decades beginning in 1931. Despite his short stature of 5 foot 3 inches, Allis had a tremendous presence and ran the hotel in a way that left a positive impression on visitors to the city. Allis earned a reputation as a perfectionist and his leadership bolstered the hotel's reputation which compelled a number of celebrities, including the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and future President Harry Truman, to choose to stay at the Muehlebach. The fountain is on the north end of the plaza and features 112 water jets. The plaza was first created in 1956.

Barney Allis Plaza and Fountain

Kansas City has long been a stopping point given its location at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. The Santa Fe trail, which was a major transportation route in the 1800s, passed through the city as well. As such, hotels were needed to provide temporary lodging to travelers. The number of hotels rose over time and by 1922, there were 86 in the city. Several more, including the Aladdin, were built in the remainder of the 1920s.By then, the city was in direct competition with large east coast cities in attracting conventions. Hotel developers spent tens of millions of dollars to provide the best accommodations and amenities including air conditioning, central public address and radio, large meeting rooms, cocktail lounges, and restaurants. Aesthetics were just as important too. Well-known architects were hired to design the hotels in a variety of architectural styles. As a result of these efforts, the city landed a number of major conventions, including the Republican National Convention in 1929. The city also chose to build its municipal auditorium in the area in 1935 because the seven hotels were located close to each other.The Armour Building Company, which was headed by insurance executive and builder C.O. Jones and his partner W.B. Weaver, built the Aladdin Hotel in 1925. It included an enclosed roof garden and retail spaces on the first floor along the north wall. In a contest for new buildings sponsored by the Business District League in 1925, the hotel won third place. A number of celebrities stayed at the hotel including baseball player Mickey Mantle and actress Greta Garbo (mob bosses apparently stayed here as well). The Aladdin was remodeled in 1980 and then again 2006. The building closed in the Spring of 2020, but new ownership has plans to reopen the building.

When it opened in 1925, the Aladdin Hotel was the tallest building in Kansas City. The 16-story building was designed by architect Phillip T. Drotts in the Italian Romanesque style, with architectural highlights that included a white limestone facade on the first through third floors with arches and terra cotta detailing, ten-story brick pilasters topped with life-size terra cotta female figures, sets of five arched, recessed windows on the 16th floor, and a pyramidal roof. The Aladdin is architecturally significant but also serves as a reminder of the city's prosperity during the early 20th century when grand hotels helped attract major conventions, a critical part of the local economy, and a source of civic pride. As of August 2022, the hotel is closed but its current owners acquired it in December 2021 and plan to redevelop the historic hotel. The Aladdin is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Downtown Hotels in Kansas City, Missouri district, which consists of seven hotels and numerous other structures.

Aladdin Hotel

The process of building the hotel started in 1929 when Charles E. Phillips, president of the hotel company, commissioned the architectural firm of Boillot &amp; Lauck to design the hotel. Hotel Phillips had several modern and elegant features, such as having a radio receiver in every room, which could broadcast music from any of Kansas City's four stations in operation in 1931. Meanwhile, sculptures, paintings, and other artwork could be found in the lobby and dining rooms, and black glass ceilings adorned the lobby to give an impression of space. Several dining rooms operated within the hotel, with the Pioneer Room as its largest. Indeed, the hotel used the Pioneer Room for large dinners and meetings as it could seat 300 people. The dining halls speak to the goal of the hotel's builders, who hoped to attract visitors from the city's successful convention business. Phillips did not own the hotel; he leased it from Louis Oppenstein of the Oppenstein Brothers Firm. The unusually long ninety-nine-year lease ran from January 22, 1929, to January 31, 2021. After Phillips died in 1955, the lease transferred to his three sons, Charles Jr., Robert L., and Richard, followed years later by Robert's two sons. But, the Philips Hotel finally closed in 1971. After the hotel ceased operating, the Oppenstein Firm decided to spend more than a year and a half, and $500,000, renovating and remodeling the hotel. In 1976, the Oppenstein Brothers Charitable Foundation gifted the hotel to Rockhurst College. The college continued to provide guest facilities in the hotel and used the facility to host evening courses and seminars. Still, low attendance and occupancy forced the college to sell the property in the fall of 1977. From the 1980s until the present, the hotel has been renovated twice and purchased by several national hotel chains such as Radisson, Marcus, Wyndham, and the Hilton.

The Phillips House Hotel was Kansas City's tallest hotel when it opened in 1931, replacing the previous Glennon Hotel. Future President Harry S. Truman ran a men's clothing store at the hotel in its early years. The Great Depression was marked by job losses, construction slowdowns, bank failures, and other types of financial disorder throughout the country, yet downtown Kansas City enjoyed relatively consistent growth in the 1930s, partly as a result of the backroom deals organized by the city's political "boss," Tom Pendergast. Until his downfall, Pendergast used his connections and influence within the city's political system to keep taxes low (roughly half of other comparable cities) during the 1930s, primarily due to the fraudulent manner in which his city handled and recorded financial and political deals. While the immediate and long-term effects of Pendergast's actions harmed many residents, it also helped others and facilitated some of the construction projects in downtown Kansas City that included the construction of Hotel Phillips which was only one of several Kansas City skyscrapers built during the decade. Similar to this historic structure which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, many of Kansas City's historic downtown buildings from this era include detailed ornamentation and architectural details that reflect the connection between skilled labor and the city boosters who secured the votes of workers.

Hotel Phillips

The Muehlebach Hotel was constructed in 1915 by local businessman George E. Muehlebach (1881-1955). Son of the famous brewer George Muehlebach (1833-1905), George E. Muehlebach expanded beyond his father’s brewery enterprise and into the real estate business. Under the banner of the Muehlebach Estate Company, he purchased a plot of land on the corner of 12th Street and Baltimore Avenue, at the site of the former First Baptist Church, in 1914. Muehlebach demolished the church and began construction of a 500-room hotel building. The twelve-story building was designed in the Beaux-Arts Classicism style by the Chicago architectural firm of Holabird and Roche. The hotel opened in May 1915 and immediately garnered attention for its level of elegance and luxury. The Muehlebach boasted restaurants, a banquet hall, a ballroom, a tearoom, a music room, a drawing room, and a professional staff with experience in hotels around the world.The hotel flourished over the next several decades and hosted numerous parties, meetings, and other social gatherings both for local and national groups. It attracted a number of celebrities; guests included Babe Ruth, Ernest Hemingway, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Helen Keller, and every U.S. president from Theodore Roosevelt to Jimmy Carter. Harry Truman reportedly spent so much time at the Muehlebach during his administration that it was nicknamed the “White House West.” It was at the hotel’s Presidential Suite that Truman and his staff awaited the results of the 1948 presidential election. Other historic events took place at the Muehlebach as well. In the hotel’s Plantation Grill on December 5, 1922, the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks Orchestra became the first band to perform regularly over the radio. In March 1938, O. C. Cash met Rupert Hall at the Muehlebach; after discovering that they shared a passion for barbershop quartet singing, they went on to form what is now the international Barbershop Harmony Society.In 1931, prominent local hotel operator Barney Allis became owner and manager of the Muehlebach. His strict management, high expectations, and demand for outstanding quality kept the hotel afloat during the Great Depression and made it one of the most reputable hotels in the world. Under Allis the hotel expanded twice in the 1950s. An eleven-story addition was built to the west of the original building in 1952, followed by an eighteen-story addition, known as the Muehlebach Towers, in 1957. A five-story hotel convention center was also later built in 1965. Allis sold the hotel in 1962 and passed away just months later. The Muehlebach was eventually purchased by Radisson Hotels in 1976 and became its flagship property.After peaking in popularity in the 1950s and 60s, the Muehlebach began to decline in the 1970s and 80s as business shifted away from the downtown portion of Kansas City. Radisson closed the hotel in 1986. It remained vacant until 1996 when it was purchased by Marriott Hotels, which incorporated it into the nearby Kansas City Marriot Downtown hotel. The Muehlebach Towers was demolished in 1998 and replaced with a new hotel tower connected to the original Muehlebach with a sky bridge. Marriott also renovated and restored the hotel’s lobby and public spaces, which it continues to rent out for events. The hotel rooms have remained closed since 1986. In 2018 it was announced that Platform Ventures would be converting the Muehlebach’s hotel rooms into a 117-unit apartment complex at a cost of $26.5 million.

From the time of its construction in 1915 to mid-century, the Muehlebach Hotel was one of the centers of Kansas City social life. The luxurious hotel was built by the son of the city's famous brewer and hosted celebrities, famous athletes, and even presidents and foreign dignitaries. The hotel is also the site of the first band performance to be broadcast over the radio, the birthplace of the Barbershop Harmony Society, and the place where Harry Truman stayed while waiting for the 1948 presidential election results. The Muehlebach, along with several other downtown hotels, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. After closing in 1986, the Muehlebach was acquired by Marriott Hotels and incorporated into the Kansas City Marriott Downtown. In 2018 it was announced that Platform Ventures will convert the historic hotel into an apartment building.

Muehlebach Hotel

As the population of Kansas City rapidly grew in the 1880s, so too did the city’s elite business class. Eventually a group of these local businessmen decided to organize a social club, similar to ones that existed in other major cities. The Kansas City Club was formally incorporated in 1882 with 42 members, including Abia A. Tomlinson, Charles E. Hasbrook, and C. S. Wheeler. Membership, which was fairly restrictive and included an annual fee, quickly increased. To accommodate this growth, the club built a five-story clubhouse on the corner of Twelfth and Wyandotte. Expansion continued, and by the 1910s it was clear that the club would need larger facilities. In 1915, the Kansas City Club purchased property on the northwest corner of Thirteenth and Baltimore for $100,000 for a new clubhouse.Construction on what became known as the Kansas City Club Building first began in 1917. Lack of funding from the club (total costs reportedly reached $2.5 million) coupled with a wartime shortage of building materials slowed progress, and substantial work was delayed until after the end of World War I. Architect Charles A. Smith and the firm of Smith, Rea, and Lovitt were commissioned to design the new building. The fourteen-story building was designed in the Gothic Revival style, and had a steel structure with a brick and limestone exterior with terra cotta ornamentation. The interior was decorated with features such as plaster, carved stone, and hand-hewn walnut wood. The building was completed and opened in 1922. It originally contained a multitude of facilities available for members of the Kansas City Club: guest rooms, meeting rooms, bars, lounges, athletic facilities, a swimming pool, a banquet hall, and a rooftop terrace.The Kansas City Club flourished for several decades following the opening of the clubhouse. Its members included prominent locals such as Tom Pendergast, Robert A. Long, and national figures such as Presidents Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and General Omar Bradley. Membership reached a peak of 2,000 in the 1980s, and then began a precipitous decline, a trend seen in city clubs nationwide. In 2001, with membership below 900, the Kansas City Club merged with the University Club, sold this building, and moved into the University Club’s building at 918 Baltimore Avenue. In 2002, the former clubhouse was converted into an apartment complex called Baltimore Lofts. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Club continued to see declining membership at its new location and eventually shuttered in 2015. That same year, the Kansas City Club Building was purchased by Platform Venture, which renovated some of the building’s facilities into luxury event spaces called the Brass on Baltimore.In 2018, Platform Ventures announced a $59.5 million project to convert the building's apartments into a 144-room hotel. It was part of a larger plan by Platform to redevelop the historic 18th &amp; Vine District into a major commercial and residential center. The new hotel opened in 2020 as the Hotel Kansas City, part of the Hyatt chain. The hotel was designed with a 1920s aesthetic and retained much of the building's original features, such as stained glass windows, murals, chandeliers, and woodworking.

Now home to Hotel Kansas City, this historic structure Gothic Revival-style building served as the headquarters for the prestigious Kansas City Club for nearly 80 years. The Club was first formed in 1882 to provide a place for the city’s business class to socialize. In 1922, the organization celebrated the completion of this building which offered numerous amenities for club members, including guest rooms, meeting spaces, athletic facilities, and a banquet hall. With declining membership reflecting trends in other cities, the club sold the building in 2001, and most of the structure was converted into apartments. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. In 2020, Hyatt Hotels converted the building into Hotel Kansas City, preserving its historic features such as the two-story stained glass mural in the main ballroom crafted by Ronald Neill Dixon.

Kansas City Club Building; Hotel Kansas City

The Kansas City Power &amp; Light Company (originally known as the Kawsmouth Electric Light Company) was established in 1882 when it opened the first electric power plant in Kansas City. The company struggled to compete against multiple rival electric companies in the area in its early years but survived thanks to its work to provide consistent power to the city’s growing system of electric trolley lines. The company began to prosper after building the Northeast Power Station in 1921. Today the KCP&amp;L services over 18,000 square miles in Kansas and Missouri, providing electricity to 800,000 residents. Originally the company’s offices were scattered in various locations around the city. In 1930, KCP&amp;L President Joseph Franklin Porter decided to consolidate all the offices together by building a single company headquarters.The popular architectural firm of Hoit, Price, and Barnes was commissioned to design a building for the KCP&amp;L. The firm was noted for designing multiple structures in Kansas City during the 1920s and 1930s, including the R. A. Long Residence (now the Kansas City Museum) and the Fidelity Nation Bank &amp; Trust Building. Construction of the KCP&amp;L Building began in 1930 and was completed in 1931 by the Swenson Construction Company. It was built in the new Art Deco style that included Indiana limestone and elaborate ornamentation on the exterior. It also notably featured a six-story lantern tower on the top. A series of color-changing copper floodlights illuminated the building at night and gave it the appearance of a flickering candle.At 32 stories and 479 feet tall, the KCP&amp;L Building was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until 1962, when the Space Needle was built in Seattle. It remained the tallest building in Missouri until 1976. KCP&amp;L occupied the first nineteen floors of the building and rented out the remainder to various tenants in the early years. In 1957, the company sold the building but leased thirteen floors for continued use. In 2002, the KCP&amp;L Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.The KCP&amp;L Company left the building for good in 1991 and relocated its headquarters elsewhere. In 2014, the building lost its last tenant, and this was not the only massive building that was vacant prior to downtown's ongoing revival. Soon afterward, NorthPoint Development Co. purchased the building for $10 million, announcing a $70 million project to convert the building into a luxury apartment complex. Renovations were designed by NSPJ Architects and completed in 2016. Now known as Power &amp; Light Apartments, the building includes over 200 apartment units and a plethora of amenities for tenants. The original exterior floodlights were replaced with LED lighting as part of the refurbishments. The old floodlights were refurbished into light fixtures for the Beacon Lounge bar.

The Kansas City Power &amp; Light Building is a leading historic landmark in the city’s Power &amp; Light District. The building was constructed in 1931 and served as the headquarters for the Kansas City Power &amp; Light Company for six decades. The building’s Art Deco style and ornate rooftop lantern quickly made it a Kansas City icon, and to this day, the lantern appears as a symbol within logos for the Power &amp; Light District. KCP&amp;L occupied the first nineteen floors of the building's thirty-six stories when their new headquarters was complete, renting the other half until 1957, when they sold the property and became a tenant. The company continued to rent space here until 1991. In 2014, the KCP&amp;L Building was sold after its last tenant left. The historic office tower underwent refurbishments and reopened in 2016 as a luxury apartment complex. The building was the tallest in Missouri for nearly fifty years and remains the fourth-tallest in the city.

Kansas City Power and Light Building

The Hotel President was built in 1926 by the United Hotels Company. Founded in 1910 by Niagara Falls businessman Frank Dudley, United Hotels was a national chain of luxury hotels and at one time was the largest hotel company in the world. The Hotel President was designed by the architectural firm of Shepard &amp; Wiser and constructed at a cost of around three million dollars. The fourteen-story building contained 453 guest rooms and upon its opening was considered one of the most elegant and advanced hotels in all of Kansas City. It contained several meeting spaces and ballrooms such as the Aztec Room, Walnut Room, and Congress Room, and a two-story Presidential Suite. It also included modern features such as a public address system and an ice-producing plant, the first in any Kansas City hotel. The hotel’s fame was cemented early in its history when it acted as the headquarters for the 1928 Republican National Convention. The convention nominated Herbert Hoover for President.In 1941 the Hotel President underwent renovations and opened the Drum Room, a cocktail lounge designed by the architectural firm of Neville and Sharp and featuring a South Sea Island theme. The lounge featured a giant kettle drum in the center which held the bar along with large murals painted by New York artist Winold Reiss. The Drum Room frequently had live music and became perhaps the most popular lounge in the city, both for locals and visitors. A plethora of notable entertainers performed at the lounge, including Frank Sinatra, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Patsy Cline, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, the Marx Brothers, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Marilyn Maye.The Hotel President closed in 1979 and the building sat vacant for over two decades. During this time a large amount of the hotel’s furniture, fixtures, silverware, and works of art were auctioned off to the public. During the early 2000s several proposals for the creation of the Power &amp; Light entertainment district called for the hotel to be razed and replaced with either a park or a parking lot. The Kansas City Council ultimately intervened to save the building from demolition in any of those early plans, but the building still sat vacant until 2002, when Hotel President was acquired by real estate developer Ron Jury. who launched a $45 million project to renovate the building into a modern hotel under the Hilton franchise. The restoration process was beset by challenges, but guests to the hotel can now enjoy a lobby, ballroom, and several event spaces that were restored to their 1940s appearance. In addition, the Drum Room was restored and reopened. The original 453 rooms were converted into 213 modern hotel rooms that reflect the expectations of modern travelers. The Hotel President reopened in early 2006 as the Hilton President Kansas City. For his efforts to save the hotel, Jury was given the Historic Preservation Award by the American Institute of Architect’s Kansas City chapter.

From its opening in 1926, Kansas City's Hotel President reflected the opulence of Kansas City during the 1920s and was selected to host the 1928 Republican National Convention which nominated Herbert Hoover for President. Other notable guests have included Bob Dylan, Charles Lindbergh, and Presidents Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower, and Nixon. The hotel’s Drum Room lounge, which opened in 1941, hosted legendary entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, the Marx Brothers, the Glen Miller Orchestra, Sammy Davis Jr., Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey. The President closed in the late 1970s and sat vacant for over 20 years. Saved from demolition, the hotel underwent a $45 million renovation in 2006 and reopened as a Hilton franchise, dubbed the Hilton President Kansas City. The President, along with multiple other hotels, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Hotel President (Hilton President Kansas City) and the Drum Room

In the late 19th Century, a German-speaking Czech immigrant named Martin Beck tried to establish a career as an actor in America. Unable to fulfill this dream, but still wishing to remain in show business, he met a man named Morris Meyerfeld, Jr., also an immigrant, who served as president of the Orpheum Theater chain, to ask for advice. Meyerfeld was so impressed by Beck that he immediately hired him as a booking agent, and he later rose to the position of general manager of the Orpheum Circuit. The circuit at that time, with 60 theaters, had a monopoly on vaudeville houses west of Chicago, while the rival Keith-Albee Circuit covered the east coast. Beck's objective, in his own words, was to "make the Orpheum Circuit bring the highest forms of art within the reach of the people with the slimmest purses." He quickly decided to construct a "junior Orpheum" theater in downtown Kansas City, employing the Chicago architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp. Unusually for the time, the structure had a cooling system that made the building comfortable even in the summer months. The theater even provided, for parents who wanted a night out without worrying about their offspring, a free nursery in the building, complete with a trained nurse and assistants. Featured live acts included Charlie Chaplin, Cab Calloway, and the Marx Brothers.  The design of the Mainstreet Theater was similar to other Rapp and Rapp theaters, such as the Chicago and Tivoli Theaters, in that a monumental arch was employed at the main entrance. The rusticated terracotta and brick building differed from those other designs, however, due to two distinctive features: the Byzantine dome at the entrance, embellished with golden tiles, and the storefronts lining the building's east facade. Although films were beginning to outstrip vaudeville in popularity, Beck, a lover of live theater, resisted, and for that and other reasons, he was ousted from his position as Orpheum's president. (He went on to construct and manage the Martin Beck Theater in New York, now known as the Al Hirschfeld Theater.) The Mainstreet began to show films, but during the Depression, it was difficult for such a large theater to maintain an audience, even with a 10-cent admission charge. In 1938, it partially closed, then closed completely until 1949, when it was refurbished and reopened as the R-K-O Missouri. This theater had the historic distinction of showing the first 3-D movie in Kansas City. In the mid-1950s, the Missouri theater installed the complicated and expensive Cinerama process to attract a new audience, but the novelty of this widescreen technology soon faded, and the theater closed yet again. In the 1960s, it opened under a new name - the Empire - with a much-reduced seating capacity: only 1200 seats. The Empire was eventually split into a multiplex with four separate theaters but still could not remain viable. In October 1985, AMC, its owners, closed it for the third time, and it remained so for over 20 years. The developer who purchased the property wanted to demolish the Empire and build office space, leaving only the dome, but the City of Kansas City resisted and bought the property in 2004. On May 1, 2009, AMC, which partnered with a local developer, reopened the theater as part of the Power &amp; Light District as the AMC Mainstreet Theater (restoring its original name).  A reported $30 million was spent on the restoration. In May 2009, the theater was awarded the "Dr. George Ehrlich Achievement in Preservation Award" by the Historic Kansas City Foundation.The building was purchased from AMC by Alamo Drafthouse and operated under the name Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet until the company filed for bankruptcy and the global pandemic led to the theater's closure. The historic theater now operates as B&amp;B Theatres Mainstreet KC at The Power &amp; Light District. The theater combines film screenings with in-theater dining to provide a novel moviegoing experience.

Located in downtown Kansas City in Jackson County, Missouri, the four-story Mainstreet Theater is one of the city's most visible historic landmarks. First opened on October 30, 1921, during the vaudeville era, it was built for promoter Martin Beck by the distinguished architectural firm of C.W and Geo. L. Rapp of Chicago designed some of the most significant theaters in America in the 1920s and 1930s. It was the largest theater in the city until the Midland Theater was built in 1927, and it is distinctive for its Beaux-Arts design and prominent Byzantine-style dome. With a seating capacity of 3,250, it was one of the first theaters of its type to cater to the working class. Between 1921-1949 it presented vaudeville acts, movies, and traveling shows. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. After many years of being closed, the theater reopened in 2012 after being purchased and renovated by Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. The theater closed during the pandemic and was purchased and reopened by B&amp;B Theatres in 2021 and now operates as B&amp;B Theatres Mainstreet KC at The Power &amp; Light District.

Mainstreet Theater, Kansas City, MO

Kansas City's Midland Theatre was built in 1927 by theater chain company Loews Incorporated. Founded by Marcus Loews, the company built and operated theaters in several major cities. At one point it even acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. In 1924, local businessman Herbert M. Woolf approached Loew with a proposal to build an opulent theater in Kansas City modeled after ones in Chicago and New York City. Construction of the theater began in 1926 and was completed only a year later at a cost of $4.5 million.Popular architect Thomas Lamb was commissioned to design the theater, with assistance from Robert Boller. It was built in the Renaissance Revival style and included elements of French and Italian Baroque. The building’s interior in particular was noted for its extravagant décor. It included five million square inches of silver and gold leafing, massive hand-cut Czechoslovakian crystal chandeliers, and various artworks. With originally over 4,000 seats, the Midland was the third-largest theater in the United States at the time of its completion. It was also reportedly the first theater with a heating, cooling, and air ventilation system.The Midland Theatre had a lavish grand opening on October 28, 1927, with speeches, an orchestral performance, and a screening of the movie The Road to Romance. The theater originally presented silent films and live shows, but soon upgraded to screen sound films as well. From 1952 to 1971, the headquarters for the NCAA was housed in the building’s office space. After 33 years of operating as a Loew’s theater, the Midland closed in 1961. Months later it was converted into a bowling alley and housed the National Bowling League’s short-lived Kansas City Stars team. After the team and the bowling alley folded, the building was reconverted into a multi-screen movie theater in 1962.After changing hands several times in the early 1960s, the theater was purchased by AMC in 1966. In 1981 it removed the movie screens and the venue began featuring only live shows. In 2008, in conjunction with the development of the Power &amp; Light entertainment district, AMC oversaw a $28 million dollar renovation of the Midland Theatre. The refurbishment included the restoration of many historic elements, the remodeling of seating to create a space for tables or standing room, and the addition of several bars and lounges. In 2012 AMC ended its association with the Midland after closing its Kansas City headquarters. The following year Arvest Bank purchased the naming rights to the theater, which was renamed the Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland. It continues to host a number of concerts, plays, ballets, and other live performances.

The Midland Theatre is a historic entertainment venue in the Power &amp; Light District of Kansas City. It first opened in 1927 as Loew’s Midland Theater; at the time it was the third-largest theater in the United States. It became well known for its opulent interior, which included features such as gold leafing, hand-cut crystal chandeliers, and other ornamentations. After the original theatre closed in 1961, it was acquired and operated by AMC for a number of years. It underwent extensive renovations and restorations in 2008. Today the theatre is sponsored by Arvest Bank, and is formally known as the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. It hosts a number of live shows and performances throughout the year. The theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The Midland Theatre

The Newman Theatre was built in 1919 by Frank L. Newman, the premier exhibitor in Kansas City. While the Newman was his flagship theater, he also owned and operated two other theaters downtown, the Royal and the Regent. The Newman was built at the site of the Brady Building, which had been destroyed by a fire in 1918. The theater was designed in the Colonial Revival style by popular local architect Alexander Drake. It was built using steel and concrete to render it fire-proof and cost up to $400,000, reportedly the most expensive theater ever built in Kansas City at the time. Newman included many lavish features in his theater, including Italian tapestries, hand-painted murals, and Greek figures. It had seating for an audience of 2,000, a 35-piece orchestra pit, a mezzanine floor promenade, lounges, and even a nursery. The Newman Theater opened to much fanfare in June of 1919; each year the anniversary of its opening was celebrated with a week of special acts.  Frank Newman sold his theaters and left Kansas City in 1925 after being offered a job managing theaters for the Famous Players-Lasky Film Corporation in Los Angeles. Around 1941 the Newman Theater was acquired by Paramount Pictures Inc., which renamed it the Paramount Theater in 1947. Business declined over the next years and in 1969, the theater changed ownership and briefly operated as the Towne Theatre before finally closing. It was demolished in 1972. Today the site is occupied by the Lightwell Building, constructed as City Center Square in 1977.<h3>Walt Disney and the Newman Theatre</h3>Walt Disney had lived in Kansas City for several years before doing a tour in France with the Red Cross and upon his return in 1919, he decided to pursue a career as a cartoonist. He briefly worked for the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio where one of his assignments was the Newman Theatre contract. Here, he illustrated the covers for several issues of Newman’s weekly Newman Theatre Magazine.In 1920, Disney got a job at the Kansas City Slide Company (later the Kansas City Film Ad Service) which produced advertisements that were screened at local theaters. Using a motion picture camera borrowed from his boss A. V. Cauger, Walt drew and filmed a short set of cartoons in the garage behind his family home. They were primarily satirical works addressing current social issues and local happenings in Kansas City, such as crime and ladies’ fashion among other things. After showing the cartoons to his ex-boss Lou Pesmen, who was thoroughly amused, Pesmen suggested Walt take them to his client Frank Newman to pitch the idea of running them at one of his three local theaters. Disney put a few of the shorts together and titled them “Newman Laugh-O-grams,” then showed the two-and-a-half minute film to Newman Theatre manager Milton Feld. He agreed to screen them and asked for a new one each week.Newman Laugh-O-grams debuted on March 20, 1921 during a screening of the film Mama’s Affair, the first recorded airing of a Walt Disney production. The film shorts became included in the theater's newsreel called Newman News and Views, which covered topics relevant to the Kansas City community. Disney produced Newman Laugh-O-grams for the next several months, before starting his own side business, KayCee Studio, where he and Film Ad co-worker Fred Harman started creating fairytale versions of Laugh-O-grams. The original Newman Laugh-O-gram sample reel is the only known copy of a Laugh-O-gram in existence, as the nitrate film stock prints were casted on at that time were highly flammable and commonly destroyed when their run were complete.Walt remained working at the Kansas City Film Ad Service until the following spring, when he incorporated his first professional animation studio, Laugh-O-gram Films, on May 23, 1922.

Built in 1919 for local exhibitor Frank L. Newman, the Newman Theatre was known for its opulence and extravagant features. It was the biggest and most costly of any Kansas City theatre at the time, holding an audience of 2,000. Notably, in 1921 a series of short satirical cartoons called Newman Laugh-O-grams were screened, which were the first animated productions created solely by Walt Disney. The Newman became Paramount Theater in 1947 and operated for a short time as Towne Theater before eventually closing due to a decline in business. It was demolished in 1972 for an urban renewal project and today, is the site is occupied by a skyscraper called the Lightwell Building.

Newman Theatre (1919-1972)

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.

Built in 1920 for the Gate City National Bank and designed by the Kansas City architectural firm of Keene &amp; 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.

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

Kansas City boomed in the fifteen years following the Civil War, reaching a population of 60,000. By 1910, the population had grown to a quarter million. Recognizing this growth in the midst of the booming 1890s, Bernard Corrigan hired architect Louis Curtiss to design a luxury hotel for the growing commercial center. When it opened in 1899, the six-story Baltimore Hotel was widely-regarded as one of the finest hotels west of the Mississippi River. Reflecting the era’s optimism and latest design concepts, the hotel was built entirely of brick, iron supports, cement, and terra cotta. The designers also minimized the use of wood within the interior. As was the case of many similar buildings that followed these guidelines, the Baltimore Hotel was dubbed “fireproof.”The Baltimore Hotel was not only on par with leading luxury hotels, it was the second-largest hotel outside of New York in 1900-the year that Kansas City hosted the Democratic National Convention. Not content to be second to Chicago’s Palmer House hotel, the proprietors expanded the hotel throughout the next decade. The hotel’s solid and thick walls not only provided safety, they also supported the construction of two additional stories by 1901. The hotel also extended its lower floors southward and added an additional 12-story tower at 12th and Baltimore in 1908. These three projects tripled the capacity of the hotel, from 160 guest rooms to a total of 550 rooms.Curtiss envisioned his hotel as a symbol of Kansas City’s growth and significance. Like many of the city’s boosters, he anticipated that Kansas City would become the leading commercial city in the Midwest. As a result, few expenses were spared on the hotel’s interior, with marble columns and sculpted ceilings throughout the lobby and public rooms. Curtiss even traveled to Europe and returned with an elegant fountain for the center of the dining room. (That fountain was later moved to the suburban Mission Hills neighborhood). The main dining room seated 700 and became the first in the city to feature air-conditioning in 1915. Curtiss devoted equal attention to guestrooms and amenities—presenting chamber music and acquiring the chef from New York’s famed Astoria Hotel. In an era when most hotels had interior rooms, each of the rooms in the Baltimore Hotel had exterior windows. The hotel underwent a massive remodeling project in 1914. At a cost of over $400,000, the dining room was expanded and every room was refurbished and air-conditioned.Recognizing that many of his guests attended the nearby Willis Wood Theater, Curtis constructed a wide underground tunnel to connect his hotel with the theater so that guests would not have to face traffic and the elements. The tunnel soon earned the nickname “Highball Alley” as it also connected to a men’s lounge within the theater. The tunnel’s utility came to an end in 1917, when a fire destroyed the Willis Wood Theater.The onset of the Great Depression and increasing competition led the hotel’s business to decline. Ownership of the hotel passed to several different companies, but nothing could alter the fact that the building was simply too costly to maintain and operate. The Baltimore Hotel closed in 1938 and the hotel was razed the following year. The location of the former hotel served as both a vacant lot and a parking lot in the decades that followed. Today, it is home to City Center Square.

One of the largest hotels beyond New York City and perhaps the most luxurious hotels in the West prior to World War II, the Baltimore Hotel was the center of social life and politics in Kansas City during the first half of the 20th century. The hotel was popular among local business leaders, visiting celebrities, and even played an integral role in national politics. A young Harry Truman had many fond memories at this hotel-including his role (which he later denied) in bringing a live moose into the hotel during one of the Democratic Party's national conventions.

Baltimore Hotel, 1899-1938

The twenty-three-story Mark Twain Tower opened in 1923 as the Kansas City Athletic Club, consisting of a ballroom, gymnasium, swimming pool, squash and racquetball courts, and other fitness uses. Arthur E. Stillwell founded the club in 1887, then a bicycling club known as the Fairmount Cycling Club, in Fairmount Park (Kansas City); the club formation represented the early stages of the "bike boom" that materialized by the late nineteenth century. But, Americans enjoyed more than just bikes by the 1890s. The focus on health and the creation of athletic clubs grew increasingly popular as the turn of the twentieth century approached; the club changed to the Kansas City Athletic Club in 1893.By the early twentieth century, the Kansas City Athletic Club gained fame for its Amateur Athletic Union teams. Beginning in the early 1900s, the club's amateur basketball team, the Blue Diamonds, became a nationally known powerhouse, including winning the "national championship" at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. Even in the 1920s, they competed in the same brackets as universities and clubs and reached six national championship games, winning twice. Despite the club's success in producing championship-caliber basketball teams, the Kansas City Athletic Club could not raise enough funds to purchase a new clubhouse. They first approached The Kansas City Club in 1917 with a proposal to merge the two clubs, but the Kansas City Club, one of many social clubs that developed in American cities during the Gilded Age and catered to social and business elites, rejected their offer. Instead, the Athletic Club purchased the unfinished, now-historic twenty-two-story building in 1923; construction had begun in 1917, but delays kept it from being completed. The club hired architects to finish the structure, which included plans to build a two-story ballroom, gymnasium, a near Olympic-sized swimming pool, athletic courts, and general fitness rooms. The Great Depression took its toll on the Athletic Club, forcing the organization to sell the building to the Continental Hotel, although the club maintained a presence on several floors. The Continental Hotel opened in 1938 and remained in operation for more than thirty years. One of its most notable comprised the Playboy Club, which opened in 1964, in the hotel's top-floor ballroom. The gentlemen's club featured a full-service restaurant, a banquet room and two show rooms where both local and nationally-known entertainers performed. But, the club's main feature involved the "bunnies," women dressed in tight, revealing clothing (and bunny ears) serving drinks to men, all part of Hue Hefner's image for Playmates and Playboy bunnies. The club and hotel ceased operations during the 1970s. In 1982, the building converted into an office building after extensive renovations, and its name changed to the Mark Twain Tower. Nevertheless, the building's original owners, the Kansas City Athletic Club, retained the rights to occupy the top six floors. By the late 2010s, with occupancy less than twenty percent, a group purchased the building and proposed to transform the historic downtown building into an apartment building; the group spent $60 million on the building to preserve its historical value while also changing its function.

Constructed in 1923, Kansas City'shistoric Mark Twain Tower which was also known as the Continental Hotel connects several aspects of history from the rise of athletic clubs to the effects of the Great Depression and urban history. The building was home to the Kansas City Athletic Club which formed during the 1880s as the club moved into the building in the 1920s. The Continental Hotel took over the historic skyscraper in the 1930s and maintained ownership until the 1970s, although the Athletic Club continued to occupy several floors. The Playboy Franchise also operated a Playboy Club within the hotel during the 1960s. Similar to many other buildings in the downtown area, the structure now operates as an apartment complex.

Historic Hotels and Theaters of Downtown Kansas City, Missouri Walking Tour

Gayety Theater (1909-1935)

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources