place

Convention Hall

Buildings and structures demolished in 1936Buildings and structures in Kansas City, MissouriConvention centers in MissouriDemolished buildings and structures in MissouriEconomy of Kansas City, Missouri
Missouri building and structure stubs
Kc convention hall
Kc convention hall

Convention Hall was a convention center in Kansas City, Missouri that hosted the 1900 Democratic National Convention and 1928 Republican National Convention. It was designed by Frederick E. Hill and built at the corner of 13th and Central and cost $225,000 and opened on February 22, 1899 with a performance by the John Philip Sousa band. It was destroyed in a fire on April 4, 1900, Kansas City was scheduled to host the Democratic National Convention over July 4. Hill redesigned a new hall that would be fireproof and it was built in 90 days in an effort that was called "Kansas City Spirit." A local 16-year-old Democrat, Harry S. Truman, served as a page at the convention. During the flood of 1903, the hall housed several thousand refugees. The final 110 refugees were sent to tent camps at 31st and Summit. The hall had to be fumigated after their departure on June 12th, 1903.The world's largest pipe organ, which became the nucleus of Philadelphia's Wanamaker Organ was originally planned for the north end of the hall after it was exhibited as the centerpiece of Festival Hall at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. The Kansas City hall operators backed out of the contract before installation when it was discovered the document had never legally been ratified. The hall hosted the 1928 Republican Convention and was torn down in 1936 when it became a parking lot for the new Municipal Auditorium. The hall hosted various traveling events including a Sarah Bernhardt performance of Camille. Its most controversial use was hosting a series of Ku Klux Klan rallies in 1922–1924.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Convention Hall (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Convention Hall
West 13th Street, Downtown Kansas City

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Convention HallContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 39.098727 ° E -94.58697 °
placeShow on map

Address

West 13th Street

West 13th Street
64105 Downtown Kansas City
Missouri, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Kc convention hall
Kc convention hall
Share experience

Nearby Places

Lyric Theatre (Kansas City, Missouri)
Lyric Theatre (Kansas City, Missouri)

The Lyric Theatre was a theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. The 4+1⁄2-story structure designed by Owen Saylor and Payson opened on December 18, 1926 as the Ararat Shrine Temple. It cost the Shriners $1 million and had a seating capacity of 3,000. It was designed to imitate the Temple of Vesta and was to be part of a complex that also consisted of the Deramus Building and the American Hereford Building on other corners of the intersection at 10th and Central. In 1939 Union Trust of St. Louis foreclosed on the $600,000 note on the building. During World War II it was sold to the American Red Cross as a blood collection center. It was used as a legitimate theatre called the Playhouse and later the Victoria. Midland Broadcasting bought the building in 1947 for its KMBC radio broadcasts (and later KMBC-TV) In 1957 Durwood Organization took it over and converted for Todd-AO and later Cinerama movies at called the Capri Theatre.KMBC continued to broadcast from beneath the stage. In 1970 the Lyric Opera of Kansas City signed a lease to perform at the theatre.In 1974 Metromedia, then owners of KMBC-TV, took over management of the building although the live arts continued to be performed.In 1982 The Hearst Corporation, KMBC-TV's new owners, acquired the building. In 1989 a piece of plaster fell from the building during a rehearsal of the Kansas City Symphony. Hearst initially began repairs and eventually sold it to the Lyric Opera which continued the repairs.In 2007 the Lyric Opera sold the theatre to DST Realty. KMBC-TV left its long-time home to go to new quarters near Swope Park. In 2011 the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Kansas City Symphony and the Kansas City Ballet moved their performances to the newly constructed Kauffman Performing Arts Center.