Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
April 17, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The famous apartment complex with playing cards murals on the doors and windows in the Northeast partially collapsed Friday afternoon.

Todd Ackerson, rescue chief for the Kansas City Fire Department, said nobody was inside the building when it collapsed. He added there were no utilities turned on inside the building, either.

Years ago, the abandoned apartment building at Seventh and Indiana Streets was used to create public art. In 2012, Rebecca Koop, local artist and Northeast Kansas City Chamber’s Executive Director, collaborated with other artists and community members to paint the doors and window boards at the former apartment building like a deck of cards.

A representative with the city’s Dangerous Buildings, Demolition and Preservation said the whole building will eventually have to come down. He added he didn’t know how or why the collapse happened, but he assumed it was due to years of neglect.