High water marks aren't the only things we erase in KC.... more often it's whole buildings. The Grand Opera House (ironically on Walnut) is now being rubblelized. Built in 1881 it entertained audiences for 40 years.... it was closed in 1921, gutted, and reopened in 1926 as a parking garage.
That reconstruction rendered it basically unusable in any other way and made it ineligible for any National Register nominating. I would ask though why the facade could not have been saved.... it wouldn't have cost that much and you could still have your surface parking lot... which is what it is destined to be. Many thanks to Kent Dicus who sent me the picture of this wonderful building in its heyday.
Listing on the NR was tried from many angles. All the alterations made it impossible as an opera house, and it was a poor example of a parking garage. It was, however, a great example of early adaptive reuse, but that's not a criteria for consideration. It's fate was sealed in the '20s.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a postcard with an interesting old Star article on the Library's digital gallery website.
ReplyDeleteThanks DLC...
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