Bryant Building (Kansas City, Missouri)

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Bryant Building
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Location1102 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Missouri
Coordinates 39°06′2.91″N94°34′51.77″W / 39.1008083°N 94.5810472°W / 39.1008083; -94.5810472 (Byrant Building)
Arealess than one acre
Built1931
Built byGraham, Anderson, Probst and White
Architectural styleArt Deco
NRHP reference No. 89000312 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 24, 1989

The Bryant Building is a 26-story office building located at the corner of 11th and Grand Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. Completed in 1931, it is considered a distinctive example of Art Deco architecture in Kansas City. [2] It was placed on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places listed on September 27, 1979 [3] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. [2]

Contents

The Bryant Building was designed by the Chicago firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. The design is an adaptation of Eliel Saarinen's second-place design in the 1922 Chicago Tribune Tower design competition. Along with the former Federal Reserve Bank building, it is one of only two buildings designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White in Kansas City. [2]

The cornerstone of the building contains family records placed there by the heirs of Dr. John Bryant. Bryant and his wife, Henrietta, received the land the building sits on as a wedding gift from her father in 1866. [2] The original Bryant Building was built in 1891 at the corner of Petticoat Lane and Grand Boulevard, before being razed in 1931 and rebuilt as the current building. [4] The original building, designed by Van Brunt and Howe of Kansas City, was highlighted in Architectural Review as "one of the best lighted and ventilated office buildings in" the city. [5]

In 2006, the building underwent a $7 million renovation project to improve power and cooling systems in order to fulfill its new role as a carrier hotel and was renamed to 1102 Grand. [6] The building was acquired in 2012 by Amerimar Enterprises, Inc, which later re-branded to Netrality Properties, now known as Netrality Data Centers, in 2015. [7]

In 2020, Netrality Data Centers announced the completion of a 14-month renovation and infrastructure upgrade project that increased the building's primary and backup power capacity, and added additional meet-me rooms, floor cage space, co-location cabinets, and three new lithium-ion uninterruptible power supplies on the 7th and 8th floors. [8]

Architecture

The Bryant Building won both the Kansas City Business League and the local American Institute of Architects Chapter awards in 1931. [2]

Construction

Commissioned to replace an existing seven-story Bryant building on the same site, construction on what newspapers dubbed "Bryant tower" began in 1930 and was completed in 1931. [2] The builder was Thompson-Starrett of Chicago. [9]

The Bryant Building is steel frame with concrete foundation. It sits on a three-story granite base, above which it is faced with brick and terra cotta. [9]

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References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lazarki, Andrea J. (24 April 1989). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Bryant Building". National Archives Catalog. Landmarks Commission, Kansas City, Mo. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  3. "KANSAS CITY REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACE BY ADDRESS 10/2017". KCMO Historic Register. The Historic Preservation Commission of Kansas City, Mo. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  4. Bushnell, Michael (16 May 2018). "Downtown Kansas City's dominant skyline". Northeast News. Northeast News. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  5. Howe, Frank Maynard (February 1904). "THE DEVELOPMENT OE ARCHITECTURE IN KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI" (PDF). Architectural Record. XV (2): 143–145. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  6. Anderson, Charlie (15 October 2006). "Former Bryant Building checks in as carrier hotel". Kansas City Business Journal . Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  7. "1102 Grand, Kansas City, Missouri: Exploring the History of the Bryant Building". netrality.com. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  8. "Netrality's Kansas City Interconnected Data Center Concludes 14-Month Expansion and Infrastructure Upgrade" . Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  9. 1 2 "Kansas City - Central Business District (1980): Survey part 2" (PDF). A Sampling of Architectural Surveys - Missouri State Parks. State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 4 July 2022.