KC Art Deco
Want to find a little culture in Kansas City? Just look up. Our city is filled with extraordinary examples of architectural styles, from beaux-arts to modern. But our assortment of Art Deco-style buildings is our real claim to architectural fame. During the Great Depression, politician Tom Pendergast may have had questionable ethics, but his taste in architecture was superb. He managed to raise enough funds to construct several Kansas City treasures during this difficult period in history, which include City Hall and Municipal Auditorium.
The fascinating, detailed bas-relief designs on these beautiful buildings depict many different aspects of our community and its history. Several years earlier, the city’s residents raised $2 million of their own in just 10 days to build the Art Deco-style Liberty Memorial. The memorial, honoring those who fought and died in World War I, reopened with the help of community donations on May 25, 2002. If you visit, look for the carvings of soldiers who gave their lives for our country. And be sure to check out the light show that still glows nightly on the Kansas City Power & Light building, another excellent example of Art Deco, built in 1931.
Courtesy hmdb.org
