News Release 254

HISTORIC PRESERVATION COUNCIL TO CONSIDER KANSAS CITY AREA NOMINATIONS FOR NATIONAL REGISTER MAY 16

Volume 36-254

Contact: Sue Holst

(For immediate release)

573-751-6510

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, MAY 9, 2008 -- The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will consider nominations to the National Register of Historic Places during its quarterly meeting May 16 in Branson. The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 9 a.m. in the Bee Creek Conference Room, Second Floor, Branson Convention Center, 200 East Main St. 

Twenty-eight nominations are scheduled to be considered for listing in the National Register. Properties on the agenda include historic residences, commercial buildings, historic districts, and a Santa Fe Trail site. More than 1,200 historic resources are represented in the nominations.

The following properties in the greater Kansas City area are being considered:

The Wyman School, 100 Dunbar St. in Excelsior Springs, Clay County, was the city's first school used solely for secondary education. Although there were other schools in town that provided elementary and secondary curricula, the construction of Wyman School allowed the district to significantly expand course offerings for high school students. The Classical Revival-style school building is an example of standardized school plans advocated by Progressive Era reformers. The school's F-shape plan provided better light and ventilation and fireproof construction and wide corridors improved safety and egress for the students. Excelsior Springs held classes in the building from its construction date in 1912 into the 1990s.

The 1901 McGee Street Automotive Service Building in Kansas City, Jackson County, illustrates the specialized adaptation of typical "Main Street" commercial buildings for auto sales and service. As the popularity of automobiles soared, real estate investors constructed 1900 McGee Street in 1912 near the heart of Kansas City's early Automobile Row. By blending a traditional commercial façade with structural elements that met the needs of automobile service and retail, the building better served the needs of consumers. Distinctive features include large storefront windows to give passersby a clear view of the interior show room, large windows on the upper stories to provide ventilation, and an oversized freight elevator capable of transporting vehicles. 

The Parade Park Maintenance Building at 1722 Woodland Ave., in Kansas City, Jackson County, was built in two phases during 1912 and 1916 as a storage and office space for the grounds keepers in Parade Park. The building features arched windows and a shaped parapet and is an excellent example of the Mission Revival style.  The construction of the maintenance building coincided and harmonized with George Kessler's parks and boulevards plan in Kansas City. The movement strove to create attractive, healthy places for the public to enjoy, especially in disparate parts of the city. Kessler advocated constructing appealing buildings that harmonized with the natural environment. Utilitarian in purpose, the Parade Park Maintenance Building was built with local limestone and provided space for a blacksmith, storage, stables and later storage for vehicles.

The Bon Air Apartments Building exemplifies the many middle-income, multi-family residential properties that were constructed along boulevards and near streetcar lines during the height of the post-World War I apartment building boom in Kansas City.  Completed in 1924, the four-story Bon Air Apartments at 4127-4133 Locust St. is a low-rise, walk-up type building with prominent full-height porches. It has a pressed metal cornice with modillions and extensive tapestry brickwork featuring cast stone designs in each elevation. This and other such buildings were designed and located specifically to meet the housing needs of the growing numbers of middle-income citizens during the early 20th century in Kansas City. 

The Colonnade Apartment Building at 4302 Oak St. is also a building typical of many middle-income, multi-family buildings Kansas City, Jackson County.  Completed in 1922-1923, the Neo-Classical style building was constructed to provide spacious, attractive accommodation in a relatively small space. The building features large fluted columns with Corinthian capitals that support open porches for four two-bedroom apartments, two on each floor. The colonnade apartment style was an attractive alternative to overcrowded large rental complexes and thus was a popular choice amongst renters in the 1920s. 

The Valentine on Broadway Hotel, 3724 Broadway Blvd., in Kansas City, Jackson County, was designed in 1927 by Nelle E. Peters.  Peters was one of the most successful female architects in Kansas City. Her work included an estimated 1,000 projects including residential and commercial properties. Within Kansas City, she designed the Ambassador Hotel and the "literary group" of apartment buildings including the Mark Twain, Washington Irving and Louis Stevenson buildings. The 11-story Valentine Hotel was constructed as a hotel and apartment complex in 1927. Peters' design included single rooms for short stays to double apartments with kitchens for long-term residents. The ground floor housed various businesses that catered to the building's and area occupants. The building is an exemplary example of Peters' work and is the only one that features Art Deco stylization.

Three residential historic districts in Lee's Summit, all located primarily in the Hearne's Additions neighborhood, are being nominated as the Northeast Douglas Street Residential Historic District, Northeast Green and 1st Streets Residential Historic District, and Northeast Forest/Northeast Green Streets Residential Historic District.  All three districts reflect the evolution of residential designs from the late 19th century through the onset of World War II.  The properties are associated with contexts developed in the "Historic Resources of Lee's Summit, Missouri" multiple property cover document. With 79 properties (53 of which are contributing), Northeast Douglas is the largest of the three followed by Northeast Green with 27 (14 contributing) and Northeast Forest with six (five contributing). Preparation of the nominations was partially funded by an FY 2007 Historic Preservation Fund grant to Lee's Summit. The grant was administered by the Department of Natural Resources' State Historic Preservation Office.

Other properties that are being considered follow:

In addition to nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, the council will receive status reports on programs provided by the State Historic Preservation Office and discuss business related to its own function and duties. Council will also discuss coordination and preparation of Missouri's five-year statewide preservation plan. 

The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is a 12-member group of historians, architects, archaeologists and citizens with an interest in historic preservation. The council is appointed by the governor and works with the Department of Natural Resources' State Historic Preservation Office, which administers the National Register program for Missouri. The council meets quarterly to review Missouri property nominations to the National Register, the nation's honor roll of historic properties. Approved nominations are forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register in Washington, D.C., for final approval.

For more information about the May 16 meeting or the council, call the State Historic Preservation Office at 573-751-7858 or the department toll free at 800-334-6946.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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