The Old Kansas City Power & Light Building With Its Art Deco Design Is Now One of Missouri’s Tallest Apartment Buildings
Originally designed by the Hoit, Price & Barnes architectural firm
The Kansas City Power and Light (KCP&L) Building
The old KCP&L Building is one of Kansas City’s skyscrapers located downtown. This construction of this building was completed in 1931 and is one of the buildings you see on the city’s skyline. The east side of the building faces the popular Power & Light District.
KCP&L building history
The force behind KCP&L was Joseph Franklin Porter. In 1917, he was made the president of Kansas City Power & Light Co. and he held that position for 22 years. He hired the architectural firm of Hoit, Price & Barnes to design a building to contain all the offices of the company. This architectural firm also designed the Kansas City Museum known originally as Corinthian Hall, the estate that belonged to Robert A. Long.
You notice as the building grows taller, stepbacks were added which is an architectural design on upper stories where a story is pushed in towards the center of the building (similar to a telescope — narrower at the top and wider at the…
