Kansas City’s second skyscraper was built more than a century ago. How does it look now?
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Kansas City’s second skyscraper, the Scarritt Building, wasn’t quite as tall as the R.A. Long Building that preceded it by a year. But the eleven story structure at 9th Street & Grand Boulevard spoke volumes about downtown’s ambitions.
It was finished in 1907, built in the style popularized by Chicago architects like Louis Sullivan—with two towers separated by a “light well” to help sunshine reach the offices inside.
The four-story Scarritt Arcade on Walnut Street adjoined it on the west. Both buildings featured delicate terracotta trim on their exteriors.
Inside, the Scarritt Building, was equally ornate. For many years the Kansas City Gas Company was headquartered there.
The building’s name was a tribute to Nathaniel Scarritt, one of the city’s first Methodist ministers. He’s also the namesake of both Scarritt Point and the Scarritt Renaissance Neighborhood in Northeast Kansas City.
By the beginning of this century, the Scarritt Building and Arcade were seriously showing their age. Several attempts to revive them for different uses failed to reach fruition, including the most recent plan to build luxury apartments inside 818 Grand.
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