Dorri Partain
Managing Editor

Remember when you were a kid and built towers and houses out of blocks just for the glee of knocking them down? There was no concern if your block creation was historic or architecturally important, and you didn’t need a demolition permit, to boot.

In the real world of construction and demolition, even with a permit, once the fees have been paid, demolition can commence with little oversight — sometimes in the name of progress, replacement or dangerous neglect — to the dismay of historic preservationists that champion the architecture of yesteryear. Huge swaths of neighborhood blocks are wiped out, leaving one or two behind that stand as sentinels representing what that neighborhood used to be, much like a kid knocking down a tower of blocks.

Midtown Kansas City’s Valentine neighborhood witnessed this scenario last year, as bulldozers moved in and homes began coming down. According to the association’s website (valentineneighborhood.org) by Oct. 24, 2024, the property loss count was 23 in a matter of weeks. All properties were owned by Kansas City Life Insurance, which has its main office at 3520 Broadway, and oddly enough, considered a grand structure situated on five acres that was completed in 1924.

Valentine neighbors discovered the insurance company had been buying properties situated between Pennsylvania Avenue and Southwest Trafficway, from 33rd to 35th street, for decades and slowly the process of vacant and neglected properties began.

Attempts by Valentine Neighborhood Association to meet with company representatives fell flat and there’s no indication what’s planned for the resulting swath of vacant land.

What could have been helpful is a notification system that these demolitions had been approved. While it was too late for these properties in the Valentine neighborhood, an ordinance that would review certain demolition requests was slowly making its way through the City Council approval process.

City ordinance #241070, approved on December 19, 2024, requires that all proposed demolition permits for buildings over 50 years old be reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) to determine if they meet the criteria — historical, architectural, cultural or urban design value — to be listed on the Kansas City or National Register of Historic Places.  Demolition of buildings that have been declared dangerous under Chapter 56, Article V are exempt from review.

Sponsored by Fourth District council representative Eric Bunch and First District representative Nathan Willet, this ordinance amends Chapter 88 (the Zoning and Development Code) by enacting a new section, Chapter 88-586. This legislation was brought to the council’s Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee by Brad Wolf, director of the Historic Preservation Office.

In August of this year, Kansas City University (KCU) applied for permits on two properties within its campus at Independence Blvd and Woodland Avenue and both fit the criteria for HPC review.

Built in 1966, an annex building at 1726 Independence Blvd. was approved for demolition as the commission found no criteria to block demolition.

However, Smith Hall, next door at 1710, was given a 45-day hold on the demolition permit, following the National Register of Historic Places Criterion for Evaluation.

Built in 1927 in the Colonial Revival/ Georgian Revival style designed by architectural team Holt, Price & Barnes, Smith Hall holds a prominent place in the public eye. KCU — an osteopathic medical learning facility — purchased the original Children’s Mercy Hospital, annex and a nurses’ residence – now Smith Hall – in 1971 and has since expanded its campus beyond that original footprint.

In a statement released in November, KCU told The Northeast News that a new building will be constructed on the site to enhance medical education and ”strengthen the positive impact we have on the surrounding community.” 

But nearby neighbors weren’t buying that statement and quickly planted KCU in the same camp as Kansas City Life, claiming that for more than a decade this institution was changing the face of Historic Northeast with its expansion plans and their plans lacked transparency.

Protests were held, signs were printed and placed in yards and a Facebook page spread the news. Historic Northeast remembered all the houses and buildings KCU had already demolished and this time they were fighting back. As the 45-day hold clock ticked, the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association filed to have Smith Hall placed on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places.

This week, both Valentine and Pendleton Heights neighbors will be headed to City Hall to save buildings. Valentine will be present during the council’s Neighborhood Planning and Development session on Tuesday, December 16 for approval of the Norman School Historic District to help protect properties from demolition. The HPC session on Friday, December 19 will hear the case for the Smith Hall application for Register of Historic Places. All concerned Northeast residents are encouraged to attend to show support.

Even with these protections, neglect, fire, or even a good attorney, may lead to eventual demolition. If Ordinance #241070 doesn’t save the day for Smith Hall, at least it sounded the alarm for preservationists to take action, offering one small obstacle against swaths of neighborhood demolition.

All photos by Dorri Partain