Our Urban Explorers Pickwick Tour is back for the final round of the
tour. The renovation is complete and Historic Kansas City would like
to invite our members back for a tour of the completed spaces. This
tour is open to members only and tickets are $20 each. Not a member?
You can join online on our membership page
[http://www.historickansascity.org/?pages=memberships]. If you are
unsure about the status of your membership, please send us an email
at hkcf@historickansascity.org.To get a sense of what the Pickwick
Plaza Hotel once was, you might take a look at "In Cold Blood," the
movie where Robert Blake played the infamous murderer Perry Smith. One
of the earliest scenes was shot in the lobby. From the national
register listing, "The firm owned by Thomas and Edward Wight was
responsible for numerous buildings in the early 20th century in Kansas
City. Wight and Wight became a leading firm in the city through its
work in the Neo-Classical tradition. The Wight brothers had received
training in Europe and were thus exposed to the magnificent, classical
architecture of the Victorian period.
Situated near the seat of government, the Pickwick Hotel could bill
itself as being the place to stay when conducting official business in
Kansas City. The Pickwick Office Building seemed as overflow space for
county and federal government offices over the years. The Immigration
and Naturalization Service. FCC, ICC. FDA and Navy all called the
Pickwick home while the new federal building was constructed across
the street in the late 1930's. As development continued in the
surrounding downtown area, the bustle shifted southwest, away from the
river towards the developing residential and service zones, leaving
the Pickwick Complex on the edge of the core.
Operating throughout World War II and early postwar years, the
Pickwick Complex participated in the growth of Kansas City, housing
both workers and travelers; while the bus station operated by
Greyhound served the transportation needs of the urban population. The
Bus Terminal, billed as one of, if not the, largest terminal west of
the Mississippi River, accommodated 4,433 scheduled departures monthly
in the early 1950's. In addition to the original buildings, an 11
floor penthouse was constructed atop the hotel. It was used by radio
stations KMBC and WHB, which broadcast from that location until late
1968.
By the 1960's, the flight of the population to the suburbs and the
ongoing shift from public to private transportation ensured that
downtown Kansas City would suffer from the same decline as other inner
cities. Many downtown buildings were demolished or substantially
renovated throughout the 1950-70's, leaving relatively few pre-war
buildings to represent what had been a dominant commercial
architectural theme for the city: classical proportion and bulk
blended with subtle Art Deco detailing. Luckily, the Pickwick Complex
maintained its facade and much of its interior finishing throughout
this period."
Come see this historic property renovated to its former glorious self!
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23/08/2017 Last update