One of Kansas City’s most notable landmarks for well over a century is currently sitting unoccupied and on the market for a fraction of its renovated cost from the 1990s. What is currently known as the Aquilla Building, but which was built as the regional headquarters for the New York Life Insurance Company could be a bargain for some company that wants a signature structure for Kansas City. Or, it could be purchased and torn down, in spite of its status as an official historic landmark.

In the mid 1880s, the New York Life Insurance Company wanted to expand its territory and establish regional offices that would be impressive and commodius. In Kansas City and Omaha, they used a design developed by the nationally known firm of McKim, Mead and White. Both buildings still stand in 2009 although the Kansas City structure is the more faithfully restored and carefully preserved of the two.

The New York Life Company also built large office buildings in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Montreal, Canada. These latter structures no longer exist and were designs of another firm. Curiously, the St. Paul design did include that forms the centerpiece of the Kansas City building as shown. The eagle was cast by St. Gaudins, a quite well known sculptor of the late 19th Century. The St. Paul eagle still exists, unlike the building it graced, but it has been removed to a park location overlooking the Mississippi River separating the Twin Cities.

What has happened to these imposing structures has no bearing on the current situation here, however. When Great Plains Energy [parent of Kansas City Power & Light] bought the financially strapped Aquilla Corporation, they also acquired the building which had been rehabilited by real estate developer hugh Zimmer for Aquilla in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. It is class A office space electronically, in HVAC capability and every other way. Parking is no problem because of nearby structures designed to house hundreds of automobiles for building workers.

If there was ever a building that epitomized the idea that “Everything’s up to date in Kansas City,” as popularized by Rogers & Hammerstein, this is it! Constructed in the late 1880s and opened in 1891, it housed the first offices of J. C. Nichols and countless other businesses along with the branch offices of the insurance giant.

It can only be hoped that some public-spirited company will come along to rescue this magnificent structure and extend its life and significance for Kansas City for another 100 years or more.
Dr. Bill Worley, Instructor in History, MCC-Blue River