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909 Walnut

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909 Walnut
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeResidential apartments
Location909 Walnut, Kansas City, Missouri
Construction started1930; 94 years ago (1930)
Completed1931; 93 years ago (1931)
CostUS$2,850,000
OwnerSimbol Commercial Inc
Height
Roof471 feet (144 m)
Technical details
Floor count35
Design and construction
Architect(s)Hoit, Price & Barnes
DeveloperFidelity National Bank & Trust
Main contractorSwenson Construction Company

909 Walnut (formerly Fidelity National Bank & Trust Building, Federal Office Building and 911 Walnut) is a twin-spire, 35-story, 471-foot (144 m) converted structure in Kansas City that is Missouri's tallest apartment building and 10th-tallest habitable building in Missouri. It is also the tallest residential building in the Midwest outside of Chicago.

In 1997 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

The building was built in 1930–31 as the Fidelity National Bank & Trust Building (referred to locally as the Fidelity Building) at an estimated cost of $2,850,000, including bank fixtures.[2] The site had been a two-story post office and federal building until 1904 when Fidelity purchased the site for its headquarters. The two-story building was razed in 1930. The new building mimicked the original federal twin-spire structure, in an Art Deco-Gothic Revival architectural motif.

The building's architect Hoit, Price & Barnes also designed the nearby Kansas City Power and Light Building in the Art Deco style.

The bank was liquidated in 1933 during the Great Depression.

On June 14, 1946, under Harry S. Truman, the Federal Government acquired the building at a report price of $3,300,000. It was renamed the Federal Office Building.[2]

In 1954, the headquarters of the newly formed Severe Local Storms Warning Service of the United States Weather Bureau moved to the building from Washington, D.C.. A Radome for a weather radar was constructed between the towers on a steel skeleton rising above them, creating a landmark until 1995 when it was removed and the service relocated to Norman, Oklahoma, where it became the Storm Prediction Center.[3][4]

Another distinctive landmark was the "town clock" in the north tower which had first started keeping time in the original 1885 post office and was then placed in the tower. A bell cast in 1882 by the McShane Bell Company of Baltimore, Maryland chimed. The clock face has since been removed and replaced by large windows for the highest residential living unit within five states. The bell was sold by the former owner in 2000 and whisked away by helicopter in ignominious fashion.[2]

When the government abandoned the building in 1995, Northland Management & Investment of Kansas City purchased it for $500,000 and it remained vacant until a subsequent sale to Simbol Commercial Inc. of Dallas in 2000 for $2,000,000. Following the September 11 attacks, the building was renamed from 911 Walnut to 909 Walnut.[5] Simbol was said to have spent $64 million to convert this building and the 929 Walnut Building into 159 apartments and 110,000 square feet (10,000 m2) of commercial office space and to construct a 323-car public garage. The rooftop of the garage also includes a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) award-winning garden.[6]

The fourth floor is now the corporate headquarters of Handmark, a mobile phone software company. The second and third floors are occupied by Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE:EPR).

References

  1. ^ "Missouri: Jackson County". National Register of Historic Places.com. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  2. ^ a b c "Fidelity Tower". KS History Guy. June 6, 2009. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  3. ^ Corfidi, Stephen F. (January 15, 1999). "The Birth and Early Years of the Storm Prediction Center" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  4. ^ My Big Day - The Ruskin Outbreak by Joe Audsley - selskc.net - Retrieved December 30, 2007
  5. ^ Davis, Jim (April 27, 2001). "Developer calls for help with 911 building". Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  6. ^ "Cool Roofing". EcoBuilding Pulse. June 8, 2009. Retrieved 2015-05-27. {{cite journal}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  • Kansas City, Missouri; An Architectural History, 1826-1990. (Copyright 1992). George Ehrlich. Retrieved August 11, 2007. (Pages 95–97)
  • American Institute of Architects Guide to Kansas City Architecture & Public Art. (Copyright 2000). American Institute of Architects/KC. Retrieved August 11, 2007. (Page 30, Number 42)
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