Sears, Roebuck and Co. Warehouse BuildingPDF Document

56 Pages·2007·4.41 MB·English

NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 10024-0018
(Oct. 1990)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
1 Name of Pronprtv"
historic name Sears. Roebuck and Company Warehouse Building
other names/site number Missouri Poster & Sign Company. Inc.. Bellas Hess Antique Mall
9 I oration
street & number 715 Armour Road [n/a] not for publication
city or town North Kansas City [n/a] vicinity
state Missouri code MO county Clay code 047 zip code 64116
Stflte/Fonpral Agpnry ncrtmration
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this
[X] nomination [ ] request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering, properties in the
National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In
my opinion, me property (X] meets F ] does not meet the National Register criteria. I recommend that this property be
considered significant [ ] nationally \ ] statewide (XI locally.
( See contjnuatisip^sneet for jjddrtiojial, comments/[ j.).. "
ignatuT5~DTceniiymg official/Title Claire F. BlackwelI/Deputy SHPO Date
Missouri Department of Natural Resources________________
state or heaerai agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property ( ] meets [ ] does not meet the National Register criteria.
( See continuation sheet for additional comments [ ].)
signature of certifying official/1 me
state orFederal agency and bureau
0. National Park T^rtifiratlnn
I hereby certify that the property is: Signature of the Keeper Date
[ ] entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet [ ].
[ ] determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet [ ].
[ ] determined not eligible for the
National Register.
[ ] removed from the
National Register
[ ] other, explain
See continuation sheet [ ].
USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form
Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse Building
Clay County, MO
Page 2
Ownership of Property Category of Property Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing
[X] private [X] building(s)
[ ] public-local [ ] district 1 0 buildings
[ ] public-State [ ] site
[ ] public-Federal [ ] structure 0 0 sites
[ ] object
0 0 structures
0 0 objects
1 0 Total
Name of related multiple property Number of contributing resources
listing. previously listed in the National
Register.
N/A_____________
N/A
fi Fnnf^tinn nr
Historic Function Current Functions
COMMERCE/TRADE: Warehouse COMMERCE/TRADE: Specialty Store
7 nocrriptinn
Architectural Classification Mater, _
foundation concrete
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY
walls oncK
AMERICAN MOVEMENTS: Chicago stone
roof syntneiic
other
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.;
USD1/NPS NRHP Registration Form
Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse Building
Clay County, MO Page 3
ft .QtatPtnont nf Signifiranro
Applicable National Register Criteria Areas of Significance
COMMUNITY PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
[X] A Property is associated with events that have made
COMMERCE
a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our
history ARCHITECTURE
[ ] B Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
[X] C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of
Periods of Significance
a type, period, or method of construction or represents the
work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or 1913-1925
represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose
components lack individual distinction.
[ ] D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history. Significant Dates
1913 _____
Criteria Considerations
Property is:
[ ] A owned by a religious institution or used for religious
Significant Person(s)
purposes.
N/A
[ ] B removed from its original location.
[ ] C a birthplace or grave.
Cultural Affiliation
[ ] D a cemetery.
N/A
[ J E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
[ ] F a commemorative property.
UG less than 50 years of age or achieved significance Architect/Builder
hin the past 50 years. Nimmons. George C.
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
Q Mninr Rihlinr hiri
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data:
[ 1 preliminary determination of individual listing
[ ] State Historic Preservation Office
(36 CFR 67) has been requested
[ ] Other State Agency
[ ] previously listed in the National Register
[ ] Federal Agency
[ ] previously determined eligible by the National Register
[ ] Local Government
[ ] designated a National Historic Landmark
[ ] recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey [ ] University
[X] Other:
#____________________________
[ ] recorded by Historic American Engineering Record Name of repository: Kansas City Public Library;
Chicago Historical Society___ ___
USOI/NPS NRHP Registration Form
Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse Building
Clay County, MO
Page 4
10
Acreage of Property 2.42 acres
UTM References
A. Zone Easting Northing B. Zone Easting Northing
15 364190 4333540
C. Zone Easting Northing D. Zone Easting Northing
[ ] See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11 Fnrm Prepared Ry
name/title Cydney E. Millstein
organization Architectural & Art Historical Research date January 13. 1997
street & number P.O. Box 22551 _____ telephone [phone]
city or town Kansas City state MO zip code 64113_____
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional Items
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this Hem at the request of SHPO or FPO.)
name Jerry W. Barham____________
street & number 715 Armour Road telephone [phone]
city or town North Kansas City state MO zip code 64116______
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 7 Page 1 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Warehouse Building
Clay County, MO
The Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse building, located at 715 Armour
Road, North Kansas City, Missouri, is a nine-story, brick and stone industrial
building measuring five bays wide and eleven bays long. Situated at the
northern terminus of North Kansas City's central industrial district, the
building is located on a major thoroughfare just west of Interstate-35. Directly
to the east of the building is the 1913 industrial Rumley building; to the west is
a vacant lot. North of the property is Dagg Playground Park and to the south
lies a parking lot.
Designed in what George C. Nimmons called Industrial Gothic (see below), the
building remains in good condition, and because there have been so few
alterations, the original historic integrity is intact. The overall horizontality
of the building, emphasized by the configuration of the ribboned fenestration
and wide spandrels is counter-balanced by the strict verticality of the multiple
piers and the tower-like end bays. Gothic styled embellishments, rather rare
on an industrial building, at the first story and upper floors of the end bays
animate the otherwise utilitarian exterior.
The main or north facade is divided into five distinct bays. The central three
bays are separated by prominent brick piers with stone amortizements, while
the end bays project beyond the central mass. At the base of the far west bay
is the main entrance featuring a recessed, non-original paneled, wooden
double-door with plate glass, set below a Gothic styled molded stone, tripartite
transom (obscured by plywood from the interior) embellished with paired,
ogee arches and arabesques. The whole is set into a molded stone surround
with a series of stone paterae crowning the doors. Directly above the transom
are four grotesques set obliquely into blocks of stone. Two pairs of brick
buttresses with stone amortizements and arabesque panels flank the main
entrance. A multipaned recessed sidelight with similarly styled ogee arches,
arabesques, and grotesques rest between each pair of buttresses.
A clerestory, set beneath a modified pointed stone arch with arabesques and
comprised of multipaned trefoil windows and tracery, crowns the first-story
entrance. Squat, triangular-shaped stone piers with stone amortizements
further articulate the clerestory. A pair of stone jardiniers, with floriated
basins on brick and stone plinths, are located at the main entrance.
The Gothic styled detailing of the easternmost bay of the first story and the
terminating floors of the end bays are similar to the vocabulary of the main
entrance described above. Each bay features a tripartite ensemble of single-
hung fenestration set in ogee arches further embellished with stone tracery.
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 7 Page 2 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Warehouse Building
Clay County, MO
Brick piers with stone amortizements separate each window, while the whole
rests below an attenuated, pointed stone arch with arabesques.
Fenestration of the remainder of the first story and the upper floors of the
north facade is one-over-one, wooden, single-hung set in groups of four at the
central bays; slender piers divide three units at each floor of the eastern bays,
while only a column of single units is featured at the western tower bay.
Window units at the first through sixth stories of the central bays feature
stone sill coursing, transoms and lintel coursing; only the first story units
display stone paterae above a prominent transom. The remaining units of the
seventh through ninth floors of the central bays feature stone sill coursing
and brick lintels; end bay units of these floors display stone sills and lintels.
In general, the massing and vocabulary of the north facade is repeated at the
east and west facades. Massing of the east and west facades is virtually
identical: windows are set in groups of four at the central bays and are
separated by prominent brick piers with stone amortizements and arabesques.
The east facade features an elevator shaft at the center bay which rises above
the roofline. The Gothic detailing of the main entrance and fenestration of
the main elevation is repeated at the first and ninth floors of the tower bays;
however, the first floor of the northern bay of the west facade lacks this
treatment. Fenestration of the southernmost bays of the west facade (counting
six bays from the south to north) is two-over-two, single-hung, sash-type with
stone sills and lintels; the remaining bays feature one-over-one units.
Fenestration at the east elevation is one-over-one, single-hung, sash. First-
story window units at the loading dock level of both elevations feature single-
pane wooden awning-type fenestration at several bays (the central bays of the
west facade and the 2nd through 5th and 7th through 8th bays, counting south
to north, or the east facade) while other bays have been modified with brick
infill and or metal overhead doors. The 10th bay of the east facade, which
contains a metal fire escape, features at each upper floor a fire door flanked
by two-over-two single hung windows (paired on the south side).
Because the south wall was originally planned to be part of a future expansion
and was not designed to be exposed, it features scant fenestration and
articulation except for a continuous loading dock and a few single-hung, one-
over-one wooden window units with stone sills.
Additional features of the Sears, Roebuck and Co. building include a parapeted
roof line with low-pitched pediments at the tower bays and stone coping; four
metal-framed, saw-tooth skylights; several brick elevator and stair shafts and
NFS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 7 Page 3 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Warehouse Building
Clay County, MO
a prominent brick chimney that rise above the main roof line. The foundation
is concrete.
Original historic features of the interior have been modified throughout the
years. Original lobby off the main entrance has been drastically altered. The
upper floors which originally functioned as warehouse space feature exposed
mushroom-shaped concrete columns and wood floors. The original skylights
of the ninth floor are extant and in good condition.
Currently, there are proposed plans for the renovation of the Sears, Roebuck
and Company Warehouse building. These plans are being prepared in
accordance with The Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation by
Rosemann & Associates, P. C., Kansas City, Missouri. Once the proposed plans
are completed, they will be sent to the Lance Carlson, Department of Natural
Resources, for their review.
NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 7 Page 4 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Warehouse Building
Clay County, MO
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Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse Building, North Kansas City, MO
Source: Sanborn Map Company, 1914, plate 4.
NPS Form 10-900-a 0MB Approval No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 7 Page 5 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Warehouse Building
Clay County, MO
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Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse Building, North Kansas City, MO
The floor plan illustrates the 1912-1913 building as it exists today ("first unit
now erected"), in addition to future expansion plans, which were never
implemented.
Source: Western Architect, Vol. XXIII, No. 1 (January, 1916).
NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
(8-86)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
CONTINUATION SHEET
Section number 8 Page 6 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Warehouse Building
Clay County, MO
SUMMARY:
The Sears, Roebuck and Company Warehouse Building, 715 Armour Road, North Kansas City, Clay County,
is significant under Criteria A and C in the following areas: Commerce and Community Planning and
Development: Constructed in 1912-1913 for Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois, the building
served as an anchor for both the North Kansas City central business district and the central industrial district,
ushering in the subsequent establishment of several industrial and commercial enterprises in the area; and
Architecture: Designed by George C. Nimmons and Company, Chicago, the North Kansas City Sears
warehouse demonstrates the onset of what has been called the American Industrial style of architecture and is
an excellent example of its type. The period of significance is from 1913, when the building was completed, to
1925, when the Sears company relocated its warehouse facilities across the Missouri River to Kansas City.
ELABORATION:
The Development of North Kansas Citv and Its Industrial and Commercial Areas
The city of North Kansas City, unlike most cities, was created and built with
commercial and industrial buildings, residences, lighted and paved streets, a
water works system and park in advance of the arrival of its inhabitants.
Plans to establish an industrial city north of Kansas City, Missouri inside the
curve of the levee of the Missouri River were developed by the North Kansas
City Development Company, a division of the Union Depot Bridge and Terminal
Railway Company, in 1910.
Early attempts to urbanize the area were unsuccessful. Willard E. Winner, a
visionary speculator who initiated one of the biggest real estate booms in Clay
County, attempted to construct a bridge across the Missouri River and develop
the northland property in 1887. In order to accomplish the construction of
the bridge. The Kansas City Bridge and Terminal Railway Company was
organized 1 with the purpose of establishing an outer belt line to take care of
all railroad lines. Although the first hurdle of Winner's plan, that of building
seven piers was accomplished in 1889-1890 at a cost of $434,000, the collapse of
the local real estate boom marred Winner's future plans. Schemes for the
E. Winner, F. W. Perkins, J. W. Perkins, Charles A. Peabody and Osman
B. Copeland, all from Kansas City, organized the company.