a rare look at burnham & root's kansas city board of trade building shortly before its demolition in 1968
This entry was posted on May 2 2022 by Eric
rarely seen richard nickel photographs of burnham and root's kansas city board of trade building (1888) shortly before it was demolished in 1968.
a year before, the building owners terminated maintenance, turned off heat and electricity, and chained the doors shut. thankfully ornamental iron (bower-barff finish) located throughput the skylighted concourse (fabricated by the winslow brothers) was salvaged during the building's demolition. i'm not sure if any of the exterior's red terra cotta ornament survived. would love to see.
the images of the grain trading hall are hard to look at. the gargantuan stone mantel is/was stunning. the ornamental door hardware was fabricated by the yale & towne mfg. company. i'm so thankful nickel made the trek down there to document the exterior/interior (in great detail based on the number of contact sheets). it's all we have... the images and some ornament.
nickel prints and ornament courtesy of the ryerson and burnham library archive, john vinci collection and bldg. 51 museum collection.
over fifty architectural firms participated in a competition to design the new headquarters of the kansas city board of trade. some of the more notable respondents to submit drawings and/or plans, included peabody & stearns of boston, george b. post of new york, and john root of chicago, who was awarded the commission in 1886.
built at a cost of $700,000, the twelve story board of trade building was designed on an h-plan, with two major wings joined by a monumental entrance arch, skylighted concourse, and a soaring elevator tower.
inside was a two-story lobby with a skylight supported, in part, by cast-iron columns. marble stairways on either side led to a gallery serving the mezzanine offices, while passage through the lobby led to the elevators. the building design is closely related to the rookery (1888) in chicago.
architectural historians consider the board of trade building in kansas city to be an important step in the evolution of john roots design work, which eventually led to his greatest achievement - the extant 1892 monadnock building in chicago.
further reading:
HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT JOHN BURNHAM ROOT-DESIGNED ORNAMENTAL IRON HEADER PANEL LATEST ADDITION TO BLDG. 51 MUSEUM ARCHITECTURAL ARTIFACT COLLECTION
This entry was posted in , Miscellaneous, Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts & Bldg. 51 Feed on May 2 2022 by Eric
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