909 Walnut

Infobox Skyscraper
building_name =909 Walnut


caption =
year_highest =
year_end =
plural =
location = 909 Walnut, Kansas City, Missouri
coordinates = coord|39.103317|N|94.581776|W|format=dms
status = Completed
groundbreaking = 1930
constructed = 1931
est-completion =
opening =
demolished =
destroyed =
use =Residential apartments
antenna_spire =
roof = 471 feet
top_floor =
floor_count = 32
elevator_count =
cost = USD$2,850,000
floor_area =
architect = Hoit, Price & Barnes
engineer =
contractor = Swenson Construction Company
developer = Fidelity National Bank & Trust
owner = Simbol Commercial Inc
management =
references =

909 Walnut (formerly Fidelity National Bank & Trust Building, Federal Office Building and 911 Walnut) is a twin-spire, 32-story, 471 foot 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. [ [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MO/Jackson/state.html nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com - Retrieved December 30, 2007] ]

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. [ [http://w3.gsa.gov/web/p/interaia_save.nsf/1fd3e688294c3a74852563d3004975f4/5a18445989add9db852565d900539fac?OpenDocument Federal Office Building - gsa.gov - Retrieved December 30, 2007] ] . The site had been a two-story post office and federal building until 1904 when Fidelity took over the site for its headquarters. The two-story building was razed in 1930. The new building mimicked the original federal twin spire structure.

The building's architect Hoit, Price & Barnes also built landmark Art Deco buildings nearby in the Kansas City Power and Light Building and Municipal Auditorium (Kansas City).

The bank was liquidated in 1933 during the Great Depression.

On June 14 1946 under Harry S. Truman, the building was acquired by the United States Federal Government which acquired it at a report price of $3,300,000. It was renamed the Federal Office Building. [ [http://w3.gsa.gov/web/p/interaia_save.nsf/1fd3e688294c3a74852563d3004975f4/5a18445989add9db852565d900539fac?OpenDocument Federal Office Building - gsa.gov - Retrieved December 30, 2007] ]

In 1954 the headquarters of the newly formed Severe Local Storms Warning Service for the Weather Bureau moved to the building from Washington, D.C.. A Radome for a weather radar was placed between the towers on a steel skeleton rising above the towers creating a landmark that lasted until 1995 when it was removed when the service relocated to Norman, Oklahoma where it became the Storm Prediction Center. [ [http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfidi/birthspc.pdf The Birth and Early Years of the Storm Prediction Center - NOAA.gov - Retrieved December 30, 2007] ] [ [http://www.selskc.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=29 My Big Day - The Ruskin Outbreak by Joe Audsley - selskc.net - Retrieved December 30, 2007] ]

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 5 states. The bell was sold by the former owner in 2000 and whisked away by helicopter in ignominous fashion. [ [http://w3.gsa.gov/web/p/interaia_save.nsf/1fd3e688294c3a74852563d3004975f4/5a18445989add9db852565d900539fac?OpenDocument Federal Office Building - gsa.gov - Retrieved December 30, 2007] ]

When the government abandoned the building in 1995 it was bought by Northland Management & Investment of Kansas City for $500,000 and remained vacant until being bought in 2000 when Simbol Commercial Inc. of Dallas bought the building for $2,000,000. Following the 911 attacks, the building was renamed from 911 Walnut to 909 Walnut. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2001/04/30/story2.html Developer calls for help with 911 building - April 27, 2001 - bizjournals.com] ] Simbol was said to have spent $64 million to convert the building to apartment use. [ [http://www.kclibrary.org/localhistory/media.cfm?mediaID=213749 KC Magazine - July 2005] ]

The fourth floor is now the corporate headquarters of Handmark, a mobile phone software company.

References

*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)

External links

* [http://www.909walnut.com/ 909walnut.com]
* [http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=560 Skyscaperpage.com profile]
* [http://www.kclibrary.org/localhistory/list.cfm?list=sub&SubjectareaID=957 Kansas City Public Library Resources on original federal building]