MO_Kansas City--Polychromed Terra Cotta Buildings
4301 Main Street, the Karnopp Building
POLYCHROMED TERRA COTTA BUILDINGS--KANSAS CITY, MO
There are a number of smaller buildings in Kansas City that use faience and colored terra cotta architecturally, and which may be in danger of demolition in the future.
Materials Used:
Ceramic faience aand terra cotta.
Additional Information, Websites, Citations:
http://caryesser.com/source-material/kansas-city-terra-cotta/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11581147@N06/5159769378/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11581147@N06/5149751413/
http://www.alphaee.com/index.php?section=news&cmd=details&newsid=18
See also, Alastair Duncan, American Art Deco, Thames and Hudson, Inc., New York City, 1999, pp. 182-183.
Submitted by and Year:
Michael Padwee (tileback101"at"collector.org); October 2011.
The Karnopp Building is a two-storied office building with stores on the first floor. The architectural decoration is ceramic faience and terra cotta.
Karnopp Building
60 S. James Street is an abandoned building that will probably
not survive much longer. (see below)
60 S. James Street
The old Fairbanks, Morse Co. building at 1300 Liberty has been repurposed and may survive in a developing arts district.
A section of 3935-41 Main Street (see below)--built in 1929,
McKecknie & Trask, architects
A terra cotta tile panel on 1300 Liberty
1819-21 Wyandotte Street
Use of terra cotta tiles.
"John McKecknie was born in 1862 in Clarksville, Ohio. [He]...enjoyed great success in Kansas City. He is credited with designing over 120 buildings in the Kansas City area before his death in 1934. His works included office buildings, industrial complexes, apartment buildings, and high-end residences in every area of Kansas City. ...In 1914, McKecknie formed a partnership with one of his long-time employees, Frank Trask. Trask began drafting in McKecknie’s office in 1903, after graduating from the Columbia School of Architecture. Trask continued his practice after McKecknie died in 1934... " (http://www.dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/10000461.pdf, Section 8, pp. 14-15)
(see below)
3341 Troost Avenue
3341 Troost Avenue
3935-41 Main Street--a polychromed terra cotta tile facade. The buildings on Main Street in this area were excluded from the Old Hyde Park Historic District, and are thus unprotected. Some buildings have been razed, and their polychromed terra cotta is, currently, or has been, sold. This building has possibly lost some of its tiling (see below).
In a Kansas City architectural salvage store. (A&O Architectural Salvage 2045 Broadway Kansas City, MO 64108, http://www.aoarchitecturalsalvage.com/index.htm)
1819-21 Wyandotte Street
3341 Troost Avenue (at E. 34th Street)
60 S. James Street (the building behind has been edited out)